Chapter One: Family Heirloom

Draco had never liked jigsaw puzzles very much, (especially the
wizarding ones where the picture of the puzzle moved even when
the pieces were apart... it was very disturbing to hold a piece with a
hand on it and have it wave at you while the head was on another
piece, completely unaware of what it's hand was doing) but as he
looked at his Divination homework for the weekend it was like
looking at the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle, the kind where the
picture is completed when you place it with the other pieces and
you can sit back and admire your work. And Draco was admiring
this work, after all it was about him (and there is often nothing
more important than oneself).

Now what was so special about this Divination homework? Not

much really. In class they were working on family lineage and
were going to see how that ties into their future, but right now they
were just working on the spell that would show them the family
tree, or more accurately the group of spells that would show all the
information needed for this part of the course. The first spell was
simple enough, and would cause a basic outline of the family tree
to appear on the parchment. The larger the parchment, the farther
back the tree would go (Draco's tree currently went back to his
sixth-great-grandfather). And, looking at this tree, he could find the
answer to something that had been nagging at him since... well
since he had turned fifteen and woken up that morning to find his
bed and himself covered in black feathers.

This had triggered a memory of his about his father: when Draco
was a five-year-old, he had found a similar black feather on his
father's bed and his father had been... extremely angry at the house
elves for not finding that before his son. Draco had never known
why, but this was the first piece of the puzzle.
The second piece had come from his godfather as a Christmas
present. It was by now everyone's (well everyone who didn't think
he would become a Death Eater, which was himself, Snape, and
his father) expectation that Draco would follow in Professor
Snape's footsteps, because of his skill in Potions, and Draco
himself was not against that kind of a future. His godfather knew
this and had sent him a, rather large, book about the rarest potions
that could be made and what their purpose was. It had surprised
Draco that many of these potions were for dealing with problems
caused with having the blood of magical creatures in your veins.
This seemed to be a problem more for wizarding families that had
at one time been or still were pureblooded. Draco had found it very
ironic that in older times, it was considered more pure to mate with
a magical creature than a mudblood... and it did make some twisted
sense he guessed... but some of the combinations were just
sickening.

Then the third piece had fallen into place when Draco had read
about this one potion for making sure that your child was not born
with dominant Veriae blood. Draco hadn't known what a Veriae
was, so he had gone to his mentor and godfather, Severus Snape, to
ask. At the time he thought that Snape's skin had paled a few
shades lighter when he asked his question, and now he realized
why. But the professor had given him a pass for the Restricted
Section and the title of a book that was one of the few about
Veriae. It was so old that it was written in Latin and obviously by
someone with pureblood lineage, but thankfully there was a
translation. Draco remembered his blood turning cold as he read
the opening text, as the original doubt appeared in his head.

Veriae, more widely known in legend as the Atra Veritas, or Black

Truth, once widely populated areas of Europe and North America.
These creatures looked and acted exactly like wizards or
mudbloods. In fact these creatures had the same genetic structure
as wizards except for one difference: their wings. Veriae have been
known to sprout beautiful wings of black feathers when either very
happy or very angry, wings which it has been seen have feathers
softer than silk when happy, and sharp as a blade when angry.
Veriae are somewhat like the Phoenix in the sense that they too go
through the process of being reborn, which occurs for a Veriae
once a month. Instead of burning to ashes and rising from them,
the Veriae's wing sprout and then disintegrate into a waterfall of
feathers. When all the feathers from the old wings have fallen off,
new wings will sprout (most often during dawn of the next day).
Because of this monthly rebirth, Veriae (like the Phoenix) seem to
age up to the point of thirty or so and then stop or age very slowly
in outward appearance afterward, though their lifespan tends only
to be twenty years or so longer than a normal wizard's lifespan.

Veriae tend not to live in a pack, although sometimes groups can

be found together, but do develop a system like a pack system
among individual families or groups. One Veriae is the "pack
leader" called the "auctor" whom is looked to for guidance by the
other Veriae in the group.

Veriae mate for life in a startling process called the Aspectus in

which the color of the Veriae's eyes changes to a mixture of silver
and gold. In this state the Veriae can see the aura of every being
and plant around it, including itself. The Veriae will look for the
aura that is identical to his/her aura. If their mate accepts them,
they mate for life. If not, the Veriae is likely to kill himself/herself
within twenty-four hours. There have been cases where a Veriae
can live without their mate if the mate dies before mating or in
childbirth, but hardly ever in the case of absolute refusal from the
mate.

And the book when on, about the traditions of the Veriae in
mating, and childbirth, and other things that Draco was not
interested in learning, but the idea that maybe there was Veriae
blood in his line was now stuck in his head. And here in the family
tree the final piece clicked into his head in the form of his great,
great, great, grandfather. Catalina Malfoy (married to Aurelia
Malfoy): a full blooded Veriae, as the second spell showed. This
spell traced the blood through the family tree, showing what was
dominant in the person and what was not. Draco followed the
dormant silver line of the Veriae blood down the map until he
stopped at another name. Lucius Sergius Malfoy (married to
Narcissa Malfoy): the second full blooded Veriae with dominant
Veriae blood. Draco's father. And, with bated breath, Draco traced
the silver line down one more step in the family tree. Draco Lucius
Malfoy... the third full blooded Veriae in the Malfoy family.

And with this realization, Draco felt many other pieces, that he
never knew were in this particular puzzle, fall into place. How he
had always looked up to is father, long after the time when other
boys in his dorm were complaining about both of their parents.
How he had been crushed by the fact that his father was in prison,
and not the fact that his mother didn't care. How he had practically
laughed out loud when, due to said fact that his father was in
prison, the entire Malfoy fortune had fallen to him and not his
mother. How he hadn't cared that his mother had left the Manor in
a rage, only been sad because his father hadn't been there to
watch... it had been very funny after all. Obviously his father was
the auctor of his family.

But that mating thing... Draco didn't like that. Another obvious
thing was that his mother had not been his father's mate, so it was
perceivable that his father's mate had died... and Draco had one
guess as to how that happened and the name started with a "V".
The thing that Draco was now upset about was the whole "suicide
if your mate doesn't like you" thing. No, that didn't sit well with
Draco at all. So, with the absence of his father, Draco went to the
next best person... his godfather.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Half an hour after Draco had come knocking on his door, Snape
stood inside Dumbledore's office drinking the strongest coffee that
could be provided. The other wizard waited patiently for him to
say why he was calling on the Headmaster at three in the morning,
looking as if he had just been given a sign that the apocalypse was
coming.
"It's about Draco." Snape said at last. And Dumbledore knew that
the outward Snape-who-is-a-bastard facade would soon fall to
reveal the Snape-who-is-a-worried-godfather underneath. A side of
him that only himself, Draco, and maybe Draco's father had ever
seen.

"He just came to see me with his Divination homework, you know
the one about family trees and such-"

"And he has found out how similar to his father he is?"

Dumbledore finished quietly.

"Yes."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. "Well, I never expected

Hogwarts to be blessed with having two Ater Veritatis to walk
through these halls, especially in this day and age."

"But what about Draco? This will only become harder for him."

"Yes, he will need a room of his own away from the dorms of
other students so they will not find his feathers." Dumbledore
stroked Fawkes's bright feathers as he thought.

"That's not even half of the problem Dumbledore, and you know
it." Snape snapped. "What about Lucius? Draco won't be able to
survive without an auctor, especially throughout the Aspectus. And
I doubt Lucius ever spoke to him about controlling when his wings
appear, other than the 'Malfoys don't show emotion' thing that the
entire family should make their motto or something."

"I know he can't do that from Azkaban, Severus. But there are only
so many rules I can bend. And Lucius Malfoy was one of the
Death Eaters found at the Department of Mysteries. No one in the
Ministry will be happy with just letting him walk out."

Snape smiled slowly. "But Lucius's Dark Mark will have faded by
now."

"What are you talking about Severus?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"Lucius is a Veriae. Only his life mate could Mark him. His mate
never did, as Lucius went through Aspectus later than most Veriae
do. Voldemort happened to kill his mate, therefore no one can
Mark Lucius... not even the Dark Lord. The "Dark Mark" that
other Death Eaters see is a complex spell that Lucius casts upon his
arm to give the appearance that he is Marked. It fades after a few
months or so."

"But it will not sit well with my soul, Severus, if I hand a Death
Eater a pass out of Azkaban."

"Give him an ultimatum then." Snape suggested. "I think you'll

find that, given the choice, Lucius would choose his son over the
Dark Lord."

"How can you be sure Severus?"

"You didn't see Lucius after Draco was born. Lucius had followed
the Dark Lord because Lucius, like all his kind, needed an auctor.
It wasn't a perfect situation, as Lord Voldemort is not a Veriae, but
Lucius resigned himself to it. Then when Draco was born-"

"Lucius became the auctor."

"Exactly. His blood will not allow him to leave his son without an
auctor."

Dumbledore nodded. "Have Draco write to him then, and I will see
what I can do about having another hearing for him."

Snape nodded, the "bastard" mask firmly back in place, and the
Potions master left Dumbledore's office, black robes flaring behind
him.

Fawkes seemed to look at Dumbledore questioningly. The

Headmaster sighed. "Yes, Fawkes, I know I would have worked to
free Lucius even if he would have stayed a Death Eater." He
looked at the bird. "You can sense auras, can't you feel it? I am
almost certain who Draco's mate will be."

Fawkes let out a keening sound, the same collection of notes that
he used whenever Dumbledore talked to the bird about the
"Gryffindor Golden Boy", and Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, Fawkes. Harry Potter."

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Nestled safely in the Gryffindor dormitory, Harry Potter tossed and
turned in his bed, clenched in the jaws of a nightmare.
Blood. There was blood everywhere. Blood that he had helped to
spill. Yes, all of it must have been his fault. Sirius, his mother, his
father, countless others that had been killed during the summer
raids that the Death Eaters had launched while he was tucked away
in Privet Drive. He had only found out about these when he arrived
back at school, and now, three weeks later, it still haunted him.

Darkness seemed to surround him, but this was a different

darkness. Not the darkness of hatred that was filled with blood...
this was almost a comforting darkness, a darkness that felt like...
feathers? Silken feathers. Wings.

Two arms encircled him as the black wings seemed to cradle his
body. "Do not despair Harry," a voice whispered, "Do not despair."

And Harry slept peacefully.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yo, Malfoy!"
Disdainful eyes shifted from where they had been contemplating
the wall of the cell to the wizard that stood at the barred door to
this, this cage.

"You got a letter." Then the guard muttered under his breath,
"Though why anyone would be sending a letter at this hour is
beyond me."

The guard was shaken out of his reverie as the letter was snatched
out of his hand and the cell's inhabitant retreated back into the cell.
Muttering inaudibly about manners of prisoners and idiots who
sent letters at five in the morning, the guard went on his way back
to his post where he had been shaken from his stupor by an eagle
only a few minutes before.

Lucius looked at the letter briefly before ripping it open. Draco had
written it. His eyes seemed to race down the letter, an emotion that
was never seen by the world apparent in his eyes. As he read it
Lucius smiled. Draco knew. His pride, his son, was now just
beginning to grasp the truth of the road that he himself had walked.
Lucius felt a small pang of regret that he would not be able to help
his son become accustomed to this life... until he read the last
paragraph. The elder Malfoy smiled in the shadows, and for once
he allowed his emotions through. Beautiful, wings that glistened in
the moon-light streaming into the cell from the barred window,
erupted from his back and fluttered as if they were happy that their
owner was happy. The soft rustle of feathers filled the cell as the
wings stretched, their wingtips touching the ceiling. Lucius looked
at his wings thoughtfully. Someday his Draco's wings would be
this size, twice the length of a grown man and powerful enough to
support his son in flight, and in battle if necessary. Out of curiosity
Lucius rolled up the sleeve of his robe and looked at the pale flesh
of his upper arm. No blemish, not even a smudge of the Dark Mark
to be seen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Latin translation:

Veriae - made up word with the basic structure of a Latin word

Ater - black (for the black wings)

Veritas - truth (because they can see the "true" aura of everything
during the Aspetus), the pl. form being "Veritatis"

Aspectus - sight

Auctor - leader (as in an enterprise) Strangelyit can also mean

"founder"(as of a family)"
Catilina - named after Lucius Sergius Catalina who lead a revolt in
Rome

Aurelia - common name for a woman in Rome

Chapter Two: Aspectus

Harry hated Mondays. No, he really hated Mondays. Because

Mondays always seemed to start off badly, which set the entire
mood of the day to be a bad one. Why? One word: Potions. That
was all that was needed to be said on the matter, that word. And it
didn't help that there were lucky people like Ron who weren't
trying to be an auror and therefore could afford to sleep late on
Mondays if they so wished, because they weren't taking Potions.
Of course, Ron never did sleep late on Mondays. He figured it was
the least he could do to give his friend some encouragement before
that... there wasn't a word bad enough to describe that class in
Harry's opinion.

And speaking of Ron... it was Ron who was currently dragging

Harry down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast as par the
normal Monday routine. And like every Monday, Hermione was
already there, ensconced in a book. Ron and Harry slid into seats
next to her that she had saved for them as she did every morning,
and began loading food on to their plates.

"Oh, Harry, did you hear? No Potions today," Hermione said as if

she was commenting on the weather.

Harry's looked up hopefully. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, eyes not leaving the book. "He's not here today.
Class was canceled."
Both Ron and Harry turned to look at the staff table and, sure
enough, their Potions master was not there.

I wonder why he's not here," Harry murmured.

"Who cares why he's not here," Ron muttered. "I hope he never
comes back!"

Both boys ignored Hermione's, "Ron!" of disapproval.

"But it's strange. He's never 'not here'." Harry persisted.

Hermione sighed. "This might have something to do with it." She

handed Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Our favorite Slytherin
isn't here either," she added sarcastically.

Harry took one look at the headline, frowned, and passed the paper
to Ron, while glaring at the spot at the Slytherin table that Draco
would have been sitting at were he in school at the time.

"WHAT?" Ron stuttered, ignoring looks from the surrounding

Gryffindors and a few other students who had heard him.

"Yeah. Wonder how they're going to pull that off," Harry muttered
darkly.

"Well, logically, it's within rights to have another trial," Hermione

pointed out. "The only real 'trial' after the Department of Mysteries
issue was a mass trial of everyone they caught. No details were
looked into for every single person. And if, as the article says,
Lucius Malfoy doesn't have the Dark Mark... well, it's harder to
convict him."
"But how can he not have the Dark Mark? He's a Death Eater! We
all saw him," Ron hissed under his breath so only Harry and
Hermione could hear.

"He probably planned for it," Harry spoke sullenly. "Being a

Slytherin and all."

"The Ministry of Magic may have made a terrible error- oh

please," Ron scoffed.

"Well, we'll know by tomorrow I guess," Hermione spoke.

They ate in silence for a while until Ron broke it. "Oh look who
decided to grace us with his presence," he muttered.

Harry looked up from his breakfast to see that Draco Malfoy had
entered the Great Hall and was being greeted by his Slytherin
groupies. Probably being congratulated or something like that.
Harry rolled his eyes and continued eating.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Minister of Magic looked very nervous, Lucius decided when
he was shown into the Minister's Office with Snape.
"Minister." Lucius spoke quietly and Fudge jumped slightly.

"Mr. Malfoy. I am dreadfully sorry about the mix-up. The Ministry

should have known in your case that there would be an
explanation. But it did look bad Lucius, all those Death Eaters in
the black robes-"

"Fudge," Lucius drawled. "Have you ever seen me wear anything

other than black in public?"
"Well, no, but it just looked too coincidental, Lucius. I still don't
understand why you would be in the Department of Ministries that
late at night anyway."

Lucius pretended to be shocked. "Why Minister, you know what

it¡¯s like living in the public eye. Were it to be widely known that
the Malfoys had an item stored in the Department of Mysteries...
well you can guess what people would assume."

"Yes, yes. I suppose that makes sense. You won't be opposed to

house arrest for a little while, just until this whole thing simmers
down?"

"Of course not. In fact, arrangements have already been made for
my stay at Hogwarts."

Fudge seemed to visibly relax. If Dumbledore found no problems

with Lucius's innocence, then there must not be any problems.
"That's good."

"Good day, Minister." Lucius spoke, and he and Snape left the
Minister's office.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Apparating to Hogsmead, the two sat in silence for the
carriage ride up to the castle, until Snape spoke.
"I didn't think the Malfoys had items stored in the Department of
Mysteries." He raised an eyebrow as Lucius smirked.

"We have the storage space, yes."

Snape frowned. "And may I ask what's in that space?"

"Absolutely nothing. But only a Malfoy can open it so no one's
going to find that out."

Snape chuckled. "How Slytherin of you Lucius."

"I try."

"Now about Draco-"

"What about Draco?"

"Calm down, Lucius. Nothing's happened yet. This morning

Dumbledore gave him his own dorm, so no students have caught
on yet."

"Good. Hopefully we'll keep it that way."

"When should he start the Aspectus?"

Lucius frowned slightly. "I'm surprised it hasn't started already.

Traditionally, the Aspectus happens very soon after the first
Rebirth."

"So that's almost a month now."

"Right."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco shifted uneasily in his chair, fighting back the urge to
massage his temples. Stupid headache. Why in Merlin's name
wouldn't it go away? Was it even possible to have a dull ache in
the back of your skull for a full day? And then there was the glitter.
Draco was sure of it now, he was starting to see flashes of... well,
glittery light out of the corner of his eyes. It was driving him crazy.
Bloody glitter, bloody headache, bloody teacher for not letting
class out early so he could go relax somewhere. What was she
talking about? Oh, it didn't matter anyway. He'd figure it out later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry had almost succeeded in forgetting all about Lucius Malfoy's
trial until just before dinner when he found Ron sitting in the
Common Room, looking as if Christmas had been canceled.
"Did you hear?" Ron asked glumly.

"What?"

"The trial. Malfoy's not convicted anymore."

Harry looked at Ron as if his friend was crazy. "You're kidding,

right?"

"No, Dad wrote me this afternoon. They checked. Malfoy doesn't

have the Dark Mark."

"How can he not have the Mark? He's a Death Eater."

"Well, it's not there now. Even Dumbledore said there wasn't an
illusion spell on him."

"So are people just going to forget that he was in the Department
of Ministries that late at night?"

"Well, that was explained too. Apparently the Malfoys have

something stored in the Department of Mysteries that he was
retrieving."

"Again... at that time of night?"

"Publicity. Even Dad admits that it's a good alibi. If we had

something stored in the Department of Mysteries, we wouldn't
want it public either. And Malfoy was given a key to the
Department earlier that day so that he could get in when no one
was around to watch."

"I bet that's how the Death Eaters got in then." Harry muttered.

"Yeah, probably so."

"Was it said what it was they were storing?"

"No. And only a Malfoy can open it, so they couldn't even look for
trial purposes."

"Well that's a stupid rule."

"Maybe, maybe not. Some families store the bones of their

ancestors in there."

"What?"

"Read it in the Quibbler."

Harry shook his head. "Let¡¯s just go down to dinner."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two joined their fellow students in the Great Hall and Ron
filled Hermione in on what his father had written to him. She didn't
say anything at first, but any reply she would have made was cut
off by Dumbledore signaling for silence in the Great Hall.
"I have an important announcement to make. Hogwarts is going to
be receiving a guest for a few months. I ask that you all be
especially courteous to him during his stay here. He will be
arriving later tonight. Now tuck in."
As the food appeared as it did every night, Harry looked
suspiciously at Dumbledore. A guest? Harry had a sinking
suspicion he knew who that guest was, but he hoped he was wrong.

"Any guesses who that is?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Obviously it's Malfoy," Hermione spoke quietly.

"Wonder why he didn't just announce it," Harry wondered.

"Can you imagine what that would have started?" Hermione asked.
"I think he was smart not to announce it. Wait until the students¡¯
parents are told that he's innocent before telling the school."

"That does make some sense," Ron admitted.

"But does that mean Dumbledore believes Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"I mean, Dumbledore was there. He saw Malfoy. How can he
believe that Malfoy isn't a Death Eater?"

"Maybe Malfoy's a spy like Snape." Hermione spoke low so that

only Harry and Ron could hear.

"If he is, he's sure a great actor," Ron muttered darkly. Then, "You
know something strange? Ferret hasn't spoken about it once."

"That is strange," Harry murmured.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through the pressure in his head, Draco felt his heart leap. So his
father was coming to Hogwarts? Of course Dumbledore didn't
come out and say that, but it made sense after all. Fudge would
want someone like Dumbledore to confirm that his father wasn't a
Death Eater... which in itself was really funny because
Dumbledore knew that his father was a Death Eater. Then again,
Dumbledore was the Headmaster of the school, so shouldn't he
have the characteristics of the school¡¯s founders? He certainly
was smart like Ravenclaw, and he was brave like Gryffindor. The
number of Hufflepuff qualities in Dumbledore was startling... but
Slytherin? Well, he just proved he had Slytherin qualities. Lying to
the Minister of Magic. Well, Fudge was an idiot, so maybe that
didn't really count.
"Draco?"

Draco turned to look at Pansy, who was sitting across from him.
"What?"

"Ummm, your eyes are really silver today."

That got Draco's attention. "Really? More so than usual?"

Blaise, sitting next to Pansy, looked at Draco closely. "Much more

so... maybe even a little gold."

Draco's eyes widened. Silver and gold? Oh no. Outwardly he

scoffed, "You must be seeing things."

Pansy shrugged. "They're your eyes, Draco."

All through dinner Draco couldn't concentrate. The aching in the

back of his skull had spread to his temples, and he was starting to
see a strange glowing if he looked at something long enough.
Suddenly the pain broke. Draco blinked and the world went from
normal, to glowy. That was the only way to describe it.
Everything, even the wood of the tables glowed. Some of the
students near him were almost blinding. Time seemed to slow; a
dull roaring began in his ears... as if he was underwater. The voices
of the students talking were muffled and seemed far away. And as
he looked around the Great Hall, it was just too much. Many, if not
half of the students were glowing like miniature suns of different
colors. Blues, violets, greens, whites, reds, all the glowing colors
seemed to swim before his eyes before all went black. He only
barely heard Pansy's scream.

The effect was instantaneous. There was an uproar in the Great

Hall. Those on the opposite side of the Hall (Gryffindors mostly)
had no idea what was going on. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws also
only barely knew what was going on. And there was almost
complete chaos at the Slytherin table. Suddenly Dumbledore's
voice rang out.

"SILENCE!" Another instantaneous effect. "All Houses will please

return to their dormitories in an orderly fashion."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry frowned. What was going on? Pulling Ron behind a statue
just outside the Great Hall, he whispered, "I'm going to find out
what's going on."
Ron gaped as he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his bag.

"You carry that with you?"

Harry looked at him briefly before putting it on. "Of course. I'll tell
you what I find out."

"Okay mate, but if Hermione tries to bite your head off, don't turn
to me for help. This is a bad idea."

"You're starting to sound like Hermione, Ron. I have to talk to

Dumbledore anyway."
And with that Harry slowly snuck back into the Great Hall, which
was no easy feat, considering everyone else was trying to move in
the other direction.

About half of the students had filed out when the doors to the
Great Hall opened and Snape walked in. Harry almost laughed at
the stunned look on the Potions Master's face. Then something
seemed to click as he looked at the Slytherin table (and the
Slytherins that were loath to just leave Draco like that) and he
walked a little ways outside the door. He yelled something that
Harry couldn't hear to someone Harry couldn't see, and as the last
few students were being escorted out of the Great Hall (again, most
of these were Slytherins) Lucius Malfoy walked in.

I was right, Harry thought. It was Malfoy that was coming to

Hogwarts.

Lucius walked quickly to where the teachers were now gathered

around something on the floor that Harry couldn't see. Madam
Pomfrey rose from where she had been kneeling on the floor and
spoke.

"He seems for all purposes to be asleep, Mr. Malfoy."

"Of course he is. His body needs time to adjust." Lucius turned to
Dumbledore. "When did it start?"

"Dinner."

The elder Malfoy nodded and bent down. When he straightened,

Harry caught sight of what, or more accurately who, had been on
the floor. Draco. Harry felt a twinge of... what exactly? Jealousy?
At seeing the care etched on Draco's father's face. No... sympathy?
Couldn't be. Just something. For Malfoy? There was something
wrong here. Harry shook it off. He couldn't have felt a twinge of
anything for Malfoy. Just couldn't. The world didn't work that way.

Harry was brought out of his reverie by Lucius speaking. "Where

is Draco's room?"

Harry blinked. Draco had his own dorm? He scowled. Money

really spoke too much these days.

"Mr. Malfoy, I think it would be wiser to put him in the Hospital

Wing-" Madam Pomfrey started.

"Are you stating that I can not look after my own son?" Lucius cut
her off, hissing slightly.

Snape winced, and Harry agreed with him. He had only seen
Lucius this furious once... and at that time he was soooo thankful
that Dobby was in-between him and the elder Malfoy. Come to
think of it... Harry hadn't even seen Lucius that angry at the
Department of Mysteries... maybe the elder Malfoy wasn't as loyal
to Voldemort as he thought.

"It's school policy-"

"Have you ever treated a Veriae, Madam Pomfrey? I guarantee you

haven't," Lucius snarled.

"Draco is a wizard, Mr. Malfoy, not a Veriae."

Again Snape winced, but this time so did Dumbledore. Lucius

smirked.

"You think I don't know what my son is?" A slight ripping sound
was heard as huge black wings erupted from Lucius's back. They
reached up towards the ceiling of the Great Hall, taller in fact than
two full grown men. The light of the Great Hall shone off them, as
if they were coated in metal. They even looked sharp, nothing like
the wings in Harry's dream.

Snape whispered something in Poppy's ear that Harry didn't hear,

but the nurse backed down.

"I'll show you where it is," he muttered in Lucius's direction.

The elder Malfoy nodded. His wings twitched and then receded
back into the skin of his back, almost as if the feathers were
folding in on themselves and dissolving.

Snape and Lucius left the Hall, the elder Malfoy still carrying a
sleeping Draco. Dumbledore turned to the rest of the teachers
present. "We need to have a staff meeting."

Many of the teachers had a "duh" expression on their faces, and

Harry almost laughed at the thought of someone else not knowing
what was going on for once.

"In my office, now." Dumbledore decided, and the teachers, one by

one, walked out of the Great Hall. Dumbledore himself walked
past the spot where Harry was hiding and stopped.

"I would like to see you in my office as well, Harry. You're not in
trouble but we have things to discuss."

Chapter Three: Mutual Unwillingness

"Do you need anything?" Snape asked as Lucius laid Draco on the
green and silver bedspread.

"A bottle of Port would be nice," Lucius commented.

Snape rolled his eyes. "I meant for Draco, not for you."

"Then nothing. He'll be up and about soon enough. He's not hurt
after all, just adjusting."

Snape nodded. "Fine then." And the Potions Master left the two
Malfoys alone.

Lucius looked around the room. It was just a duplicate of the

Slytherin dormitory really, except that there was one bed instead of
a few, all draped in the classic Slytherin green and silver, with a
fireplace to warm the room (for it was in the dungeon), and a small
desk for Draco to write on. Draco's trunk was sitting, open, at the
foot of his bed and Lucius could see a stack of parchment inside it.

After a few minutes of thought, Lucius transfigured one of the

sheets into a bottle of Port and another into a wine glass such as the
ones he drank from in the Manor. Lucius stared into the flames of
the fire, which were also green and silver, as he sipped the wine.
The room was very quiet, save the crackling of the fire, and
Lucius's mind easily slipped back to when he had gone through his
first Aspectus.

He remembered that day. He had been in a really bad mood

because there had been a gnawing headache at the back of his skull
all day, and he had skipped dinner for the silence of his own room.
His Aspectus hadn't hit until after he had fallen asleep and he
remembered vividly waking to see the entire room glowing
different shades of green at the darkest hour of the night. It had left
shortly after, so he hadn't actually seen the matching aura of his
life mate until a few months had gone by. But he had to wonder if
Draco chanced to see an aura that matched his own. It was
probable, however highly unlikely.
He was shaken from his reverie by an ecstatic, "Father!" and he
turned to see Draco sitting up excitedly.

"How are you feeling?" Lucius asked, crossing to the bedside.

"Fine. The glowing stopped."

"Yes, I imagine it would. It will come back in a few days, each

time for a longer amount of time."

Draco looked skeptical. "Is the headache going to come back too?"

"No."

"Oh. That's okay then."

Lucius paused for a moment, looking at his son. "Draco, did you
see anyone with an aura matching your own?"

"I didn't have time to look at myself." Draco pointed out blankly.

"What color was it when you lost consciousness?"

"Black."

"Just black?"

Draco thought. "Yes. Black, like ebony almost."

"Then that's your aura."

Draco thought again. He remembered seeing someone with a black

aura... but no details came to mind. "I can¡¯t remember anyone
with my aura."
"Pity."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry denied the offered lemon drop as he sat down in a plush
chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was quiet for a
moment, as if carefully choosing the correct words to begin.
"There are many things we need to discuss, Harry."

"Why is Mr. Malfoy here?"

"Not for the reason you are assuming, Harry, I'm sure. He is here
purely for family reasons."

"But he's a Death Eater-"

"Without a Dark Mark."

Harry stopped his outburst. "So he removed it-"

"Harry, you cannot just 'remove' the Dark Mark. Believe me,
Severus has tried a dozen times and nothing works. The reason
Lucius Malfoy does not have a Dark Mark is because there wasn't
one there to begin with."

"How." It was a statement, not a question, and Dumbledore had

been forced to come to a crossroads.

"That is information that cannot leave this room, Harry. But, you
have many times not had enough information, perhaps unjustly, so
I am now going to trust that you will keep this in utmost secret.
Only speak of your knowledge when you know the time is right."
Dumbledore looked at Harry, as if compelling Harry to think about
this last statement. Harry nodded.
"Many times in this school, the subject of pureblooded wizards has
come out in the open. Lucius and Draco Malfoy are pureblood
wizards, but not from wizard blood."

Harry blinked.

"They are from a group called the Veriae, known in textbooks as

the Atra Veritas, or, translated, "Black Truth". You could think of
them as wizards, for in fact they are, but wizards who are more
hindered with a wand than without one. They rely on the magic
granted to them by their Rebirth every month and by their wings,
wings which you have seen."

Harry nodded, remembering the large black wings that had

sprouted from Lucius's back.

"These wings have two forms, the sharpened form that appears
when the Veriae are angry or endangered, or the silken form when
they are happy or content. These wings go through a rebirth once a
month, much as the rebirth of a Phoenix, only they don't burn.
From these wings the Veriae are in tune with the magic that
surrounds our world and they call upon this magic in their wings
instead of the magic in the wand core. But all that aside, the reason
Lucius is here is because Draco needs the guidance of one of his
own kind during this phase that he has entered into called the
Aspectus."

"What does that do?"

"That is not my business to tell you Harry. It is Draco's. You will

have to ask him for the details on the matter."

Harry scowled. Yeah right, he thought.

"Back to the subject of Lucius, which I'm sure is still irking you.
Lucius Malfoy has, of yesterday, ceased to be a Death Eater. This
also has to do with his Veriae lineage, but the details are
unimportant. Know that there is no threat poised from his former
Death Eater background. Now Harry, I believe you wanted to talk
to me about something other than Lucius Malfoy's sudden
appearance."

"Yes. Well, Hermione, Ron, and I wanted to talk to you about the
DA."

"You mean about whether I would allow, or even encourage, you

to continue it?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I see no reason why that

would be a problem, as long as all prior commitments are met,
such as homework."

Harry smiled at this. Everyone in the DA would be pleased to hear

this; they really hadn't liked the idea of holding meetings behind
Dumbledore's back again.

"But I have a request that you allow one other student to join you.
You need not extend the invitation yourself; I will speak to him
about it. And he may not choose to attend anyway, but I request
that you extend the option."

Harry's brain clicked and he had a sinking suspicion he knew

which student Dumbledore was talking about. "You mean
Malfoy?"

"Yes, I was referring Draco. He needs to get used to not using a

wand, as it will only hinder him in upcoming battles."
Harry nodded, privately thinking that it was okay to 'extend the
invitation' as Dumbledore called it, because there was no way that
Draco Malfoy would ever step foot in one of the DA meetings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So then, Lucius Malfoy was a spy?" Hermione asked.
"No. More like, he's retired now." Harry muttered.

"Mental. The whole thing is mental," Ron murmured, and Harry

privately thought, Ron you have no idea.

"So what did he say about the DA?" Hermione asked, to change
the subject.

"Oh, yeah, did you ask him?"

"He said we could as long as all 'prior commitments' were upheld

or something."

"In other words: classwork." Ron clarified.

"Right. He also... requested we add another member. One who may

or may not show up."

"Who would that be?" Ron asked quizzically.

"It's Draco Malfoy, isn't it?" Hermione asked and Ron looked at
her as if she was crazy.

"It can't be Ferret, Hermione-" Ron stopped at the look on Harry's

face. "It IS Malfoy? You didn't say yes, did you?"

"He probably won't come," Harry muttered.

"You're absolutely right," Hermione agreed, looking pointedly in
Ron's direction. "He won't come."

"But what if he does?" Ron asked. "Then we'll have to act all nice-
"

"Not if we're dueling him," Harry put in, and Ron caught on to
what Harry was implying.

"I like that idea, Harry."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco Malfoy returned to classes the next day, looking for all the
world as if he had not fainted, or blacked out, or fallen down
gracefully at supper the night before. In fact, Draco Malfoy himself
couldn't remember much about the blacking out part, so he brushed
off any inquiries about his health (along with inquiries about why
he hadn't been in the Hospital Wing). All was going along like a
normal school day for Draco Malfoy so when Ron Weasley
happened to brush by him after lunch, he wasn't expecting a
shouting contest.
For Ron Weasley the day was not going so well. It seemed to be
one of those days where nothing went right and everything that
could possibly go wrong did go wrong. And Ron assumed that if
he had been in Potions (which he thankfully wasn't) his cauldron
would have melted on him, just to make the day worse. And his
friends weren't helping either as Hermione seemed never to have a
bad day and therefore wasn't comforting at all, and Harry seemed
preoccupied with dreading his upcoming Potions class to worry
about how bad Ron's day was. So when he happened to run into
Malfoy leaving the Great Hall after lunch and the little Ferret had
the audacity to snipe 'watch where he was going' Ron let it all out.
"Oh, and I'm sure we're going to all have to watch what we do
around you now Malfoy, we wouldn't want you fainting again." He
spoke snidely.

"Shut it Weasel, or you might find yourself blacking out, or should

I say knocked out."

"Oh, great comeback. Have you been working on them with Daddy
in your free time, because now I bet he has a lot of time to spend
on you, and everyone knows that Death Eaters always have the
best comebacks, don't they?"

Harry gulped as anger began to radiate off Draco, but no one else
seemed to notice. "Ron this might not be the best-" he started in a
low whisper.

"Don't you EVER talk about my father that way!" Draco shouted.
A small ripping sound was heard and Ron stepped back as two
black wings of sharpened feathers sprouted out of Draco's back.

"What the-"

"DRACO! Calm down this instant!" Snape appeared at Draco's

elbow.

"Not until he takes back what he said about my father!" Draco

hissed, his wings snapping furiously, a lone feather breaking loose
and falling to the floor.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Weasley, apologize. Twenty points from

Gryffindor for antagonizing another student.

As Ron mumbled a completely insincere apology, Harry turned to

Hermione and whispered. "When you get some time, look up
Veriae in the library, will you?"
The girl nodded, still looking at the black wings and the slice of
stone that one lone feather had carved out of the floor just by
drifting to it.

Black Truth

Chapter Four: Lifemate Sighted

Harry silently fumed as he took his seat next to Hermione for

Potions. Still no sign of Malfoy anywhere, and the git had two
minutes to get to class. But, Harry stopped himself, why in
Merlin's name did he care? After Draco had "calmed down" and
the wings had receded, the insufferable prat had left, going in the
direction of the Slytherin dormitories (as Harry's experience from
Second Year had taught him), probably to change his robes. And
he'd probably be five to ten minutes late to class but would Snape
care? Not at all. So Harry sat fuming at the unfairness of it all.

Harry was so buried in his internal rant that he didn't notice the
arrival of Draco Malfoy, or the sudden hush that went around the
room as all eyes (but Harry's) turned to look at the young
aristocrat. If Draco was bothered by their looks, he didn't show it,
and Harry, finally realizing the blonde's existence in class not
thirty seconds before class began, thought that Malfoy would
probably enjoy being in the spotlight.

Draco pointedly ignored the stares from his classmates as he made

his way to his customary workplace. He was the only one at his
table as he preferred to work alone, which now Draco realized was
a good thing, as he didn't have to worry about working with a
partner who was fretting about him sprouting wings every two
seconds.
"Well if you would all be so kind as to stop looking at Mr. Malfoy,
I believe you all have work to do," Snape snapped as he entered
the classroom in the same manner he had done so since Harry's
first Potions class in First Year. "But before you get to that, I am
going to assign the next project that you will be working on and
your partners."

A collective shudder went around the room. Snape's regular work

was hard enough, but when he assigned projects... well they
normally had the effect that the wooden horse had on Troy. The
only two who had survived--much less passed--the last project
were Draco and Hermione, who had worked by themselves.
Everyone else had been sent to the infirmary for various reasons.
Harry himself had enjoyed an interesting time where his eyes
changed colors every few minutes. Really it had made for a quite
interesting week, where the world was red one minute, then green
the next, shifting into purple, and then black where he really
couldn't see what was going on. Harry personally thought that
Snape went through the library picking the hardest potions to
assign for projects... and Harry wasn't too far off, except Snape
didn't need to go to the library for he had already memorized all
the information that was in those books already. Harry was shaken
from this train of thought when his name and partner¡¯s were
called out.

"Potter, Malfoy."

Harry fought back the urge to groan and glared in Malfoy's

direction, a bit miffed by the fact that Malfoy was looking half in
shock at Snape who was ignoring him.

Well this is just great, Draco thought. Not only had his beloved
godfather thought to pair him with Potter of all people, but the
same godfather seemed to have found a twisted sense of humor in
all this. Draco scowled at the parchment in front of him on which
some witch or wizard had painstakingly copied out all the
information available on the--surprise surprise--Veriae potion
which Draco, in all reverence to the book he'd found it in, had torn
out. His father most likely thought the whole thing was funny, as
he had hardly been able to conceal the smirk on his face when he
had read the potion's name and purpose. Of course, for wizards
who were not Veriae, the potion might be something useful if they
were trying to find their perfect match. But... he was working with
Potter! The whole thing was wrong just because of that little,
somewhat unimportant detail. Potter. Just-

Wait... why was he obsessing over Potter anyway? It was just a

stupid assignment which would take less than a week anyway. And
besides... the whole point of this particular project was to be able
to identify the ingredients for potions "in the field" just in case you
couldn't walk down to whatever local apothecary you lived near.
This meant that some of the ingredients for his (and Potter's)
potion would be in the Forbidden Forest. Oh this would be fun.
Draco was starting to enjoy the Forest. His father had woken him
at dawn nearly every day for a stroll through the Forest. Draco
could remember the smirk that had been prominent on his father's
face when Draco had heard that Dumbledore had given his
permission for Lucius to teach his son the proper control and use of
his wings in the Forest. Draco was starting to think that this
particular smirk was his father's form of laughter.

But the Forest wasn't so bad, once the more hostile creatures had
figured out that you could aptly protect yourself at any moment
you chose to. The centaurs were, well, they were quite weird at
times, yet helpful at others. They were much more open to him
now that he was seen as another of the Forest's creatures and not
just a rogue wizard who happened to be in the vicinity. This
attitude irked Draco for some reason, but it didn't really matter, he
decided. Yes, it would be interesting when Potter finally figured
out that he would have to go rooting around in the Forest for
certain ingredients... scratch that, most of the ingredients. This
could have some interesting prospects after all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius paced up and down in front of the fire place angrily. Up.
Down. Up. Down. If Snape had ever watched muggle tennis, he
would have been able to make a comparison, but since he didn't
make a point of watching muggle sports, he could only watch as
Lucius walked from one end of his range of vision to the other and
back again with a forceful stride.
"Stop pacing Lucius, you're giving me a headache." He spoke
finally.

The elder Malfoy stopped and instead turned to watch the slightly
green flames that were crackling noisily in the fire place.

"He doesn't get it yet." Lucius spoke finally. "He was so

preoccupied over that Potions assignment you gave him to think
clearly at all."

"It might not be as bad-"

Lucius turned to fix the other Slytherin graduate with a glare.

Snape shut up quickly.

"Not as bad. Just wait until the rumor mill gets working. By
morning, the least descriptive story will be something along the
lines of 'The Dark Lord is trying to come up with the perfect mix
of blood for magic and so his most trusted family decided to
experiment with their own son' and that will probably come from
the Slytherins who have known Draco."

"The Gryffindors will merely stop at 'He's a freak.'" Snape put in

helpfully.
"And the Ravenclaws will want to study him," Lucius snapped. "If
I didn't already want to ring Weasley's neck, I surely would now!"

"Which one?" Snape asked sarcastically. "Because I'll help." He

paused to hand Lucius a glass of brandy, which the elder Malfoy
promptly drank in one shot. "Lucius, Draco may be the talk of the
school tomorrow, but he'll handle it. He'll probably enjoy it,
strangely enough. The first real chance he's had to use the full
reputation of the Malfoy family, you can't tell me he won't live it
up to its full potential. He wouldn't be Draco if he didn't."

Anything else Severus would have added was cut off by a burning
pain on his arm. He hissed, at the same time as Lucius did, and
while his hand went to his arm in an attempt to numb the burning
feeling, Lucius was busy working something off the middle finger
of his right hand. Severus blinked as whatever Lucius was working
on came off and flew to land on the floor with a clatter. Small,
golden, and circular. Snape looked at Lucius in surprise as he
recognized the tell-tale crest of the Malfoy family that was etched
into the black stone of the ring, the black stone that was glowing a
bright red.

"I'm having another one made, but it will take a month or so."
Lucius spoke, answering the unspoken question. "Until then it
would be unbecoming of the head of the Malfoy household not to
wear the signet ring, don't you think?" Snape's eyes traveled to
Lucius's hand where he could see a band of scar tissue that marked
the spot on Lucius's finger where the metal had met skin.

"Are you going?"

"No."

"I'll have to tell him then."

"Forgive me for saying I'm glad it's you and not me."

Snape smiled ruefully as he made his way towards the door.

"Do you want me to wait up for you?" the question came softly,
but firmly from in front of the fireplace.

"Some brandy would be nice," Snape replied equally as softly

before he left.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What are you still doing up, Hermione?" a somewhat tired voice
asked. Hermione looked up from where she had been curled up in
an armchair, reading.
"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Death Eater meeting. He's feeling rather... destructive tonight. I

wonder what made him so angry?" The last part was sarcastic.

"Do you think Malfoy didn't go?" Hermione asked softly.

"The Marauder's Map states quite clearly that Lucius Malfoy is

currently sitting in Snape's office. And Snape isn't anywhere on
Hogwarts grounds."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully as Harry sat down on the sofa near

her. His eyes flickered to a black object on the table. "Why do you
have that, Hermione?"

"Research purposes. Be careful, Harry. It's sharp enough to cut

through stone as if it was jello."
Harry frowned. "And Malfoy keeps wings of these in his back?"
He picked up the feather gingerly. "'Mione? Are you sure this is
that sharp?"

"Yes. Malfoy was angry, ergo his feathers were sharp."

"Doesn't seem sharp to me."

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at the feather. Sure

enough, the feather Harry held in his hands was not razor edged,
but silken. Frowning, she reached for it but jerked her hand away
when the part closest to her reverted back to its razor state when
her hand neared it.

"Maybe it doesn't think you're a threat to Draco," she suggested.

"Hermione, are you trying to tell me that these feathers can think?"

"No, but they can feel. They are the Veriae's link to the magical
currents running through the Veriae's body."

"So these are like the Veriae form of wands?"

"Right."

"Found anything else out that I should know?" Translated: should I

be watching out for anything if I annoy Malfoy?

"I don't know yet, Harry. There are painfully few books about
Veriae in the library. This one came from the Restricted Section."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Happy reading, I guess," he finally said.

"It's really interesting actually. Many of our own customs were
based after the Veriae customs, such as the whole 'head of the
house' idea, which came from the Veriae Aspectus."

"You're going to need to explain all this, right?"

"Yes, it's a complicated system. Harry, you look dead on your feet.
You should try to sleep."

After Harry had gone into the boys dormitory, Hermione frowned
worriedly and re-read the paragraph she had been absorbed in
before Harry came down.

It takes months, and in some cases years, for Veriae to learn to

control their wings because just having their wings makes the
Veriae prone to rash mood swings. The instinct of the wings is to
protect the Veriae at all cost, and thus for the first few months after
the first rebirth the slightest anger may set them off. But it is
interesting to note, that while the Veriae may not be able to control
the wings, the Veriae's intended can. The touch of the Veriae's soul
mate makes even the sharpest, most angry feathers instantly
change to their soft form so as not to hurt the Veriae's intended.

"Oh my, Harry what have you gotten yourself into now?"
Hermione whispered worriedly. Absorbed in her book, the girl
continued reading long into the night.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius Malfoy sat watching the flames sputter and die, and
continued sitting motionless after the room went dark, his sight
now focusing intently on the small charred circle that the ring--
currently on his finger--had left in the floor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dumbledore sat absently stroking Fawkes's feathers, thinking back
to when he had first seen the matching aura between the two boys,
after Fawkes had pointed it out to him, and wondered how this
would affect the oncoming war.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco Malfoy slept soundly, his eyes flickering to a color of silver
and gold underneath closed eyelids, and slept soundly, enclosed in
his black aura.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And up in the Gryffindor boys¡¯ dormitory, Harry Potter slept
soundly as well, enclosed in protective black wings that kept out
all the nightmares.
Chapter Five: Matching Auras

"You look three-fourths dead," Lucius stated as Snape made his

way into the room at seven in the morning.

"Thanks for caring," Snape shot back spitefully. "Seeing as you're

the reason I and forty other people are like this right now." He
winced as he put weight on muscles that were loath to do anything.
"And why in Merlin's name didn't you keep the fire going?"

Lucius shrugged in the darkness (he hadn't minded the cold of the
dungeon room) as his eyes wandered in the direction of the
fireplace. There was a slight shift in the air of the room and flames
leapt up from nothing, flooding the room with light.

"I hate when you do that," Snape muttered, slowly making his way
to the couch.

"It's as natural to me as your wand is to you," Lucius commented

casually.
"And Draco's going to learn how to do that?" Snape eased his
Crucio-battered body onto the plush cushions of the couch. "I'm
getting too old for this."

Lucius's eyebrows rose. "And yet I'm older than you." Switching
subjects he continued, "I take it he was slightly displeased."

"Furious, seething, fire and brimstone and all that. You name it, he
was ten times worse. Not a fun evening."

"Sounds like it." A pause. "You're in no shape to teach today."

"Have to. Albus has me teaching both Potions and Defense this
year. Too many classes to just cancel them all."

"I'll cover them for you. I need something to do anyway." Lucius

smirked. "I'm sure I can think of something to do in your Defense
classes on the subject of the Dark Arts."

"Emphases on Defense, Lucius."

"The elder Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Ruin my fun will you?"

"That's my job," Snape muttered, his body slipping into sleep.

"One of many," Lucius remarked before getting up. He needed to

have a discussion with the Headmaster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Harry, mate. You need to wake up sooner or later." Ron's voice
argued with the lump that was a sleepy Harry.

"Don't wanna," Harry mumbled into his pillow.

"Yeah, I wouldn't either, but you have to."

"Ron, it's Monday."

"And you have Potions first thing, I know. We do this every

week."

Harry had to admit that Ron had a point.

"Harry, if you don't get up I'm going to have to resort to drastic

measures-"

Harry groaned as he remembered the cascade of water that had

been used to drag him from his bed last week.

"-and you never know, maybe Snape will want to cancel class
today too."

Nothing.

"Sorry, mate you asked for it."

And Harry yelped as cold water flooded down on top of him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco also was having a hard time getting his own self down to
breakfast. His was not a sleep problem, no he had gotten up as he
always did, and had gone through his normal morning routine... his
was a different sort of problem. A dread kind of problem. He had
awoken to his second Aspectus, which had reminded him that this
would be a horrible day. All night he was sure that the rumor mill
of Hogwarts had been churning, and now at breakfast the finest
gossip Hogwarts could offer would be handed to him on a silver
platter. Well, not literally, but close enough. Draco entertained the
thought of just not going to breakfast and appearing in his
godfather's class for Potions, the one place where he knew he
could find some amount of sympathy this morning. But he was a
Malfoy, and Malfoys did not care what people thought of them...
sometimes he wished he could change some of these rules.

"Draco, get up. You will not be late," his father's voice sounded on
the other side of the painting that was the door.

"Coming father," Draco murmured, and crossed his room to the

door. Opening it, he found his father waiting for him as per the
normal morning routine... and for the first time Draco saw his
father's aura.

Lucius saw his son blink in surprise and smirked. "Not what one
expects is it?"

Father and son began walking towards the entrance to the

Forbidden Forest as they did every morning.

"Not really... it's red."

"Imagine my chagrin, waking up to find it's not just any red,

Draco. It's Gryffindor red."

"Ouch."

Lucius nodded. "But it¡¯s even more curious to see how closely
Gryffindor red resembles blood red."

Draco frowned, thinking. He blinked in surprise when he realized

his father was right. The color of the Lions was close to a bloody
red. Strange.
"It's not as bad as some," Lucius commented. "I'd rather have red
than... well your godfather's for instance... or the Dark Lord's."

"Why?"

"Well, your godfather's is pure white. Not a very evil aura that's for
sure, and one that doesn't fit his lifestyle at all. And Voldemort's...
is... pink."

Draco sputtered in surprise. "What?"

"Not just any pink either, neon pink."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco's steps wanted to drag themselves towards the doors to the
Great Hall, but Draco was a Malfoy and Malfoys did not ever drag
their footsteps, so he was stuck walking slowly but purposefully.
But Malfoy rules be damned, he stopped walking as he saw who
waited for him at those doors.

"Crabbe, Goyle. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

Blunt as ever Crabbe, Draco thought, but he couldn't help feeling a

bit apprehensive. They might not have been the smartest brains in
the school, but they had been his childhood friends and Draco was
certain that, two on one, he would lose against them.

"Look, Draco, there's a lot of stuff being said about you," Goyle
started. "But we don't see a difference."

Draco blinked. Then smirked. "Good one, Goyle," he spoke. Yes,

they might not have been the brightest of the bunch, but Crabbe
and Goyle were as loyal as any Gryffindors once they had placed
their loyalties. "Shall we go eat?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hushed whispers followed Draco as he made his way through the
Great Hall, walking in the self-assured style only a Malfoy knew
how to accomplish, completely ignoring what was being said.
Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle glared at anyone who looked too
long in the wrong way at Draco, and they had their work cut out
for them it seemed.
Draco wasn't paying attention to all that though, he was scanning
the Slytherin tables, noticing the different colored auras. Reds,
blues, greens, even a silver, but no black. None. Nothing close to
black. Well, there went his first choice of life partner. Not that
Draco was looking, mind you, he was just curious.

Taking his customary seat in-between Crabbe and Goyle, Draco

caught sight of the staff table and noted with disappointment that
Snape wasn't there. He would have enjoyed seeing the professor
surrounded by a seemingly pure aura.

His eyes swept over the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Still no
black. Tons of yellow, a few different shades of red, even some
weird mix of purple and green, but no black. Maybe his soul mate
wasn't at Hogwarts?

Deciding, at least for the moment, that his soul mate must not be at
Hogwarts since there were only a few chairs left (two of these
being the chairs across from an apple-red-aura-Granger), Draco
turned his attention back to his breakfast. The Slytherins were
obviously split in their decisions about him, he noticed. One part
thought it was a cool idea to have a student with the ability to spear
anyone when angry, even if it was with a feather. After all, it was
an interesting kind of power. The other group focused on the fact
that it wasn't pure wizard blood. The two halves of the Slytherin
definition, it seemed. Luckily, most of his normal group of
compatriots (such as Blaise, Pansy, and Nott) were in the first
group.

Breakfast was a meal that always went by too fast in Draco's

opinion. Especially on a Monday, and this Monday was no
different. But as Draco stood to make his way down to the
dungeons for Potions a flicker of a particular aura caught his eye.
Ebony black. A perfect duplicate of his own aura. Draco's eyes
widened as he registered who that aura belonged to, and blinked.
The world instantly switched from glowy to normal, all auras
disappearing, leaving only that person sitting at the Gryffindor
table. Potter. Harry Potter. He had only seen the aura for a second
before his Aspectus had stopped, but... was it Potter's? Draco
suddenly didn't like this situation. He didn't like this at all.

Chapter Six: In the Name of Denial

Harry wearily allowed Hermione to drag him down to the Potions

classroom and tried to think of anything other than working on the
blasted project with Malfoy of all people, while Snape would
probably be watching for his slightest mistake and blaming him for
breathing in the wrong interval or something. Yet, as the time wore
on and the seconds clicked closer to the start of class, Snape had
not appeared. All the students were in their seats, waiting
somewhat nervously, for their professor to arrive in the flutter of
robes and slamming doors as he had for the past five years and a
few weeks running. Yet, as the clock ticked to the very second that
class was supposed to start, their professor has still not graced the
classroom with his presence.

In the stunned silence of the room, Blaise's whisper to Draco was

deafening, "If he doesn't show up in ten minutes, I'm leaving."
There were a few slight smiles as the students pondered this, but
all smiles soon dropped from their faces as a voice answered, "I'm
sure that won't be necessary, Mr. Zambini."

The door, which had opened silently, suddenly slammed shut, and
most of the students jumped, half twisting in their seats to see the
owner of that voice.

Even Draco was slightly surprised as his father walked with

practiced ease to the front of the room.

"Well?" A regal eyebrow rose as he surveyed the students. "I

believe you had work assigned to you. And while I think it would
be great fun to watch your Professor cut all your throats for not
handing it in, I doubt you would find it as amusing."

Chairs squeaked as students moved to sit with their partners and

start on their projects.

Harry didn't bother speaking to Malfoy as he sat down next to the

blond, seeing as Draco had pointedly not made a move to where
Harry had been seated.

"We can get started on half of the potion today, but then we'll have
to acquire the other half of the ingredients." Draco spoke, looking
at his cauldron as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever
seen.

"Fine then."

And with that, Draco started working, occasionally shoving

something in Harry's direction with directions to be cut or
shredded in a particular way. This suited both of them, as Draco
didn't want a partner to help make the potion to begin with, and
Harry didn't want to make the potion at all. But, watching as the
blond aristocrat added the unicorn's teardrops with subtle
procession, Harry had to admit that Draco had some talent in this
field of the Wizarding World.

The potion in the cauldron had turned the pale blue color that was
an exact duplicate of the color described on the sheet of directions
when Draco shoved a list of ingredients at Harry.

"I'll meet you tonight outside the Forbidden Forest to get these."

"What?" Harry's idea of not interacting with Malfoy was shattered.

"Look at the list Potter." Draco spoke, pointedly watching the blue
potion stir itself. "Conock blood can only be found inside the fruit
of the conock plant when picked at night. Gorgan's Hair is actually
the snake-like leaves of the Gorgan tree, so named for it's
appearance obviously. And Blackwing Pearls can only found from
the Blackwing plant, a short weed which can be seen only after the
sun goes down. Hence the 'at night' part and since the fastest way
to get these is to take them from the plants themselves, you get the
Forest part."

"And I suppose you know that one can find all these in the Forest,"
Harry hissed, not caring if Draco heard that comment or not.

"Actually, I do know that all of these can be found in the Forest,"

Draco sniped, "Ten o'clock, outside of the Forest, Potter. And don't
be late."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"No, Ron, we aren't kidding."
"But that¡¯s bloody mental! Even Dumbledore wouldn't risk
having the Ministry find out about him giving a teaching position,
no matter how small, to someone who doesn't have Ministry
permission to teach! Malfoy can¡¯t have those kind of
qualifications!"

"You see when we get to Defense, Ron." Was all Hermione replied
and Harry nodded, silently wondering if it would matter if the
Ministry found out that Lucius Malfoy had taught a class
considering that he most likely owned that department, more or
less.

Hermione was not disappointed in as they entered the normal

Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to find the same teacher
from Potions that morning calmly leaning against Snape's desk.
Harry had to admit that the look on Ron's face was priceless, and
yet all that Lucius Malfoy did was raise one eyebrow in
amusement while he and Hermione were fighting back laughter.

Class started exactly on time, just as Potions had not, and the elder
Malfoy wasted no time in waiting for stragglers. The door
slammed shut and was locked by an invisible force and every
student except two turned to look at the door in amazement. Draco
had seen this little stunt many times at the Manor when his father
was making it clear to Narcissa that he was not to be disturbed and
that the definition of "not" indeed was the same as it had been for
the last hundred years and had in actuality not been changed to the
definition of "maybe not" or "not, unless Narcissa felt it
necessary". Hermione was looking at the elder Malfoy, silently
storing away the first sign she had been shown of how a Veriae
worked with the magical currents around them. But it was clear
that anyone not in there seats was obviously not going to attend
class, and much to Ron's chagrin that did not include any
Slytherins or Ravenclaws, yet included a few Hufflepuffs and
about half of the Gryffindor population of the class.

"Put away what you want," Lucius Malfoy started, watching as

students began stuffing books away. "I am going to talk and you
are going to listen, and you will have to use your own intelligence
as to whether or not you will be tested on what I am going to
inform you of by your normal teacher."

Quills and parchment began appearing back on the desks.

"Now I have no idea what in the name of all things magical your
Professor has you studying, nor do I want to know, Miss Granger
so kindly put your hand down."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. Snape had obviously been taught
something by Lucius Malfoy sometime in his life for their
lecturing methods to be so similar.

"For this class period we are going to talk about curses and the
effects thereof. I won't spend time on the Unforgivables as I've
heard those were dealt with in your Fourth Year, except to say that
they are becoming somewhat of a clich¨¦. Now those three curses
were singled out by the Ministry out of the hundred and seventeen
curses that might have been selected as Unforgivables. Why?
Because they were popular. It's easy as snapping your fingers to
cast Cruciatus on someone if you hate them, and Imperius gets to
be a walk in the park if you use it enough to become familiar with
it. But the rest of the hundred and seventeen are much harder to
maintain and have somewhat gruesome effects, therefore they were
not used as often. However, this makes them more appealing as the
years move on, as they are not Unforgivable, and the punishment
for using one of them on another creature is merely a tongue
lashing by some Ministry official who doesn't know what he's
talking about to begin with and no amount of time in Azkaban at
all. Now, as all of the Unforgivables have a weak spot -- Cruciatus
becomes ineffective as one's mind blocks out the pain in order to
save one's sanity, the Imperius counts on the fact that your victim
of choice has little to no will power, and as long as someone else
gets in the way of the Killing Curse when its thrown at you,
you¡¯re safe -- so do these other curses have weak spots that can
be exploited if you know what is coming towards you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Can you believe he got all 117 curses into one class period?" Ron
groaned as he nursed his writing hand in the Common Room.
"You think this is bad? Can you imagine if he were to become the
permanent Defense Teacher?" Harry groaned.

"That was the most informative class I've ever had," Hermione
pointed out. "More than half of those curses aren't archived in our
library except in the Restricted Section."

"Bloody amazing," Ron muttered sarcastically.

"Did you notice that Malfoy didn't write anything at all?" Harry
wondered out loud.

"Which one?" Ron muttered from where he had been attempting to

wallow in pity for the most certain loss of a limb after all those
notes.

"Draco."

"I did," Hermione spoke thoughtfully. "But do you know

something even more strange? He was mouthing the names of the
curses two words before his father said them.

"As if he's heard that particular lecture before?" Ron asked.

"Exactly."
"Well I guess that's something I can ask him when I have to meet
him to go find bloody potions ingredients in the Forest," Harry
muttered. "Might make for good conversation."

Ron patted his shoulder sympathetically before realizing he was

using his "injured" hand to do so and returned to self pity.

"It can't be that bad-" Hermione started to say but the looks from
the two boys silenced her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You're late Potter," Draco muttered as Harry got close enough to
hear him without raising his voice.
"Let's just get this over with," Harry muttered.

"Fine by me," Draco shot back, turning to lead the way into the
Forest that he was quite used to by now. Thank you Father, he
thought silently as Harry followed close behind him, obviously not
having a clue about where he was going.

Gathering two of the ingredients went fairly easily. Draco led,

Harry followed wondering slightly why he wasn't disturbed that
Draco knew where he was going and then resolved to think about
that later. But when they approached the spot where Draco knew
there was a Gorgan tree, Harry suddenly stopped short. Draco
continued walking for a few steps and then realized that Harry
wasn't with him. He turned to see the boy staring ahead at the
downward slope of the ground that was covered in a root canopy.

"I've been here before. We don't want to be going in there."

"Yes, Potter, we do want to be going in here as it is the fastest and

most direct route to the last ingredient that we need and I for one
want to get to bed."
"Draco, you don't understand. There are thousands, millions even,
of giant-"

"Spiders? Yes I know."

"They enjoy eating flesh - did you know that?"

"I had assumed so. They don't bother with a Veriae, so I never
tested my theory."

Harry looked pointedly at Draco, and Draco realized that he had

overlooked the slight problem of Harry not being a Veriae. He
rolled his eyes, only slightly visible in the darkness of the wood.

"Fine. You stay here. I'll go get the Gorgan¡¯s Hair." Draco spoke
as if he was very annoyed by the injustice of all this. "But you have
to carry everything back."

Harry didn't point out the fact that he already was carrying the
other two ingredients, and nodded, watching the aristocrat
disappear into the cave-like structure ahead of him.

Harry waited and waited... and finally figured that time was
relevant. He was sure that he was counting the seconds when he
first heard the sounds, like wheezing only in a very regular
breathing pattern. And then he heard the somewhat silent sound of
slithering coming towards him. And something that he had forced
himself to memorize for Snape's second test clicked in his head.

Wyvern! His mind screamed. Winged, legless dragons that

breathed a yellow fog which gave humans a nasty cough that
wouldn't go away for years, and made their eyes burn and blur.
Damn. And what's more is that their hide repelled magic of all
sorts. Double damn.
He half twisted to see three pairs of eyes watching him. Bloody.
Hell.

The creatures slowly emerged from the brush, speaking to each

other in the language of dragons. It was what Parseltongue had
originated from and Harry could catch a few words... words that by
themselves formed a very disconcerting picture. Unintentionally,
Harry began to back towards the cave which would lead to the
spiders' nest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco emerged from the cave to just avoid running into Harry,
who had leapt back to avoid the fog of three wyverns. What were
they doing here? The wind of the forest rustled through the trees
and told him. Draco saw red.
They.

Wanted.

To.

Harm.

His.

Harry.

Draco did not like that. AT. ALL. Something nagged at the back of
his mind that told him that he shouldn't care if the wyverns hurt
Harry... but that nagging disappeared when he caught a glimpse of
the emotion boiling in Harry's eyes.

Helplessness.
Nothing.

Hurt.

His.

Harry.

Something inside of Draco snapped. Wings unfurled, sparkling in

the dim light. Harry half turned to see Draco standing there, and
began to back away from the Veriae slightly. Draco shoved the last
ingredient into his hands and attacked. The first wyvern never saw
what hit it as wings seemed to wrap around its body, shredding the
skin and spilling critical amounts of blood. It fell to the ground
dead within seconds.

The other two wyverns looked at Draco suspiciously, then turned

to look at Harry with a strange expression... surprise, if it was
possible for a dragon descendant to show surprise. Harry frowned
as they spoke to each other.

"Lucky - hiss- too bad - growl- intended -snarl-Veriae."

They left, obviously not wanting to invoke the already angry

Veriae, and Harry didn't blame them, but what had they been
talking about? Harry suddenly wanted to find a way to learn to
speak Dragontongue. It was possible to understand it with a bit of
studying, just another dialect of Parseltongue after all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco stood in shock after he had entered his rooms and closed the
door. What had he done? Why had he done it? He had protected
Harry? He had willingly protected Harry? He had been angry that
Harry-bloody-Potter had been attacked by wyverns. Why should
he even care?
Because Harry's aura matched his- no he didn't know that. He only
thought that, only had the slightest suspicion of thinking that
maybe that could have the slightest chance of being the case...

Yeah right. And if Draco Malfoy hadn't resigned himself to the

fact that Harry Potter was his intended, Draco the Veriae Malfoy
certainly wasn't complaining. In the name of all things magical...
why him? Why couldn't it have been someone - anyone - else?

Draco groaned and threw himself down on his bed in a very

unMalfoyish bout of depression (because one, Malfoys never
become depressed, and two, Malfoys do not throw themselves onto
their beds while, three, wearing clothes that they wore into the
Forbidden Forest). Was there even a bright side of this problem?
Oh yeah, if he ever wanted to commit suicide for some reason he
could just go have a little chat with Harry Potter.

Hi Harry. Just so you know I still hate you, but you're my intended
life partner, so can you hurry and reject me because I want to die
because Voldemort just announced that he's gay and wants to be
my bride.

Draco shuddered. Yeah, if he ever wanted to commit suicide, that

would definitely be the way to go. Now all he had to do was pray
that Harry didn't figure it out, or if Harry did figure it out (more
like if Granger ever figured it out) that Harry had enough common
sense to avoid him at all costs.

Yes, that was all... and then there was that little fact that he had to
start controlling his emotions more now, just to make sure he didn't
go mental when someone tried to hurt Harry... like sending a
bludger at him in the Saturday Quidditch match this week... oh
damn it all!

Chapter Seven: As the Truth is Dragged Out

Ron and Hermione sat in stunned silence as Harry's tirade finished.

Ron was the first to recover, turning to Hermione looking puzzled.

"Hermione... is it even possible to have a pink aura?"

Hermione frowned. "Yes, I suppose anything's possible."

"Guys, the strange conversation Malfoy started coming back up to

the castle is not the point here," Harry groaned, falling back on to
the conveniently placed couch. "Why in Merlin's name did Malfoy
help me?"

"I don't know Harry-" Hermione started.

"Probably wants something in return." Ron muttered.

"-And before I was interrupted!" Hermione gave Ron a pointed

look and Ron smiled sheepishly, "I was going to say not to dwell
on it. You shouldn't be complaining that he stepped in after all. It's
better in the long run for you."

"He didn't demand anything in return right?" Ron asked sharply.

"No. All he said afterwards was that thing about the aura. Then he
said nothing. We walked back to the school and he took the
potions¡¯ stuff and left."

"Maybe he doesn't realize why he did what he did," Hermione

spoke thoughtfully, and then yawned.
Harry grimaced. "Sorry I woke you guys up." He realized that
dragging his friends out of bed (Ron literally from his bed and
Hermione by yelling up at the girl's dorm) might not have been the
nicest thing to do, but he'd been freaked.

"Don't worry about it. I would have done the same thing," Ron
admitted. "Well, let's go to bed and think on it in the morning."

"Good idea," Hermione agreed, then pulled Ron back as Harry

walked into the dorm. "I need to talk to you. Wait until Harry falls
asleep, then come back down."

Ron nodded, not waiting to ask why. Hermione would explain it

later as she always did.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron came back down to see Hermione sitting on a chair with a
book in her hands. "What's up?"
"I know why Malfoy did what he did tonight."

"You mean 'last night'; it's after midnight. But why did he do it?"

"Because of his Veriae blood."

Ron frowned. "You'll need a long explanation for this, Hermione."

The girl nodded. "Don't stop me until I'm done then."

Ron flopped onto a couch and waited.

"When I saw Malfoy's feather fall to the ground that day he went
ballistic on you, I picked it up so that I could research what he was.
I was very careful never to directly touch the feather itself because
it was razor sharp. I found one book which had a description of a
feather, but it was in the restricted section so it took a while to get
permission to read it. By then the school knew he was a Veriae, but
so what. I wanted to find out more about his powers. But the book
didn't tell me that, apparently the Veriae is taught by his auctor...
that¡¯s the reason Lucius Malfoy is here by the way. Anyway,
what the book did tell me was the life... cycle I guess, of the
Veriae. It also told me of the Veriae's soul mate. It works almost
like the Veela, in that the Veriae also look for their perfect mate.
But the Veriae don't sniff out their mates like Veelas do, they look
at the aura of the soul. When they find the person that matches
their own, they've found their soul mate. This mate is very
important, but not necessarily vital to their lives. If their soul mate
never rejects them, they won't die and can live without their mate.
However, if they tell their mate and their mate rejects them they
die at midnight of that day. Now I was just reading about another
purpose of the mate when Harry walked in. The feather of Draco's
was on the table. When Harry touched it, it reverted back to its soft
silken form. This is because the Veriae instinct wouldn't want to
hurt their mate in any way."

"So you're telling me Harry is Malfoy's soul mate?"

"Yes. But he doesn't have to bond with Malfoy. He just cannot

reject Malfoy openly or else Malfoy dies."

"And Malfoy would never tell Harry, because Malfoy hates him."

"Exactly."

"Then that's okay then, and we all go on as we have."

"But tonight, Malfoy stopped an attack on Harry. We need to be

ready for any situation. We're Harry's friends and Harry's smarter
than he lets on in Potions class, you know. If he finds out himself,
we need to support whatever decision he might make."
"You mean if he chooses to be with Malfoy. Yeah, I can almost see
him doing that."

"You know Harry has the attitude that love is love no matter which
gender it comes from, and despite what Malfoy has done to him,
the Veriae part of him would make sure that Harry is never hurt...
by anyone or anything."

"But you're overlooking the fact that Harry hates Malfoy."

"There is also that. I'm just telling you this so that no matter what
happens, we can support Harry."

"Of course we'll support Harry. We're his friends. I mean, sure,
when he explained his views on love to us this summer I was a bit
shocked, but I can deal with this."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. I mean, hurting Harry's friends hurts Harry, so Malfoy

can't start anything with us either right? All we do is ignore him.
Easy."

Hermione smiled. "Exactly."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius Malfoy had tuned out his son's ranting hours ago and just
let Draco continue talking until he had repeated himself three or
four times, worn himself out pacing around, and stormed off to his
bedroom. Raising an eyebrow at some of Draco's last statements
on how it wasn't fair because he wasn't even going to be punished
for being so stupid as to help Potter because it was following
Veriae instinct, Lucius just stored the entire few hours away as
temporary insanity and returned to his book.
He'd known this was going to happen after all. Why else had he
deserted Voldemort? Honestly, Draco himself should have
suspected that Potter was his soul mate after that. Oh well. Draco
was, after all, an adolescent, and adolescents sometimes couldn't
find something if it hit them on the side of the head, relationships
being one of those things. What would come would come, and
Draco would never actually tell Potter that he was his soul mate, so
what was Draco worried about anyway?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Friday morning, Draco had carefully built a manor on the left
bank of "denial" and was comfortably living in it without any
thought whatsoever. The potion had been finished and he'd given
the stupid vial to be tested to Potter, saying to test it if he wanted to
but Draco knew it was perfect and had left the room before Potter
might have swallowed it. So Potter didn't know anything
whatsoever about the aura of Draco's soul and both boys (along
with respective friends/bodyguards) were ignoring each other... but
Draco was dreadfully wrong about one thing.
On Thursday night, Harry Potter had dumped the entire clear
contents of the vial of the completed potion into his pumpkin juice
and had watched everyone's auras for exactly one hour. He'd
delightedly told Hermione of her aura (apple red) and had told Ron
he didn't want to know (Slytherin green) and had then looked at his
own to find it was ebony black. Which he thought was fitting,
thank you very much... and then Draco had walked in. Harry had
felt annoyance when he realized that Draco and he had the exact
same aura. Who did that git think he was, having the same aura as
he? Then his brain had started working... maybe it was something
about being a Veriae. He still hadn't checked out... er..."borrowed"
that book on Dragontongue from the Restricted Section... and a
resolution was made to translate exactly what those wyverns had
said about Draco and himself on Monday. After all, he still
remembered very clearly what the hissing had sounded like...
strange what one remembered without really meaning to.

So he had left dinner, had trespassed into the library's restricted

section, and promptly spent all night learning to speak
Dragontounge. He doubted he could really speak it fluently, but he
would understand it. There were only a few differences between it
and Parseltongue, because dragons were capable of making a
snarling "kh" and "rrrk" sound that snakes couldn't do. So at
exactly 3:48 a.m. on Friday morning, Harry looked at the
translated sentence one wyvern had spoken to another.

"Lucky boy. It's too bad that you're the intended of a Veriae."

Intended of a Veriae? What did that mean? Hmmm. Hermione had

that book on Veriae-people before, maybe she checked it back in.
But looking revealed that, no, she hadn't. Well, then he would just
have to ask her to see it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione looked at him for a long moment before smiling and
fetching the book from her dorm, saying something like, "What's
mine is yours, Harry, you know that," and left him to his reading.
Harry thought that look was rather odd, but he walked up to his
dorm and collapsed on the bed. Merlin, he was tired. A nap would
be good right now. He'd skip whatever class he might have this
morning and sleep in, then he'd look up what that "intended" thing
was, and then go down to Care of Magical Creatures. Yes, very
good plan Harry, he told himself. Sleeping sure looked good right
about now.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione and Ron were waiting for Harry at the entrance to the
grounds, as they always did on Fridays, to walk down to their
Magical Creatures class. But they noticed that something was
different about Harry this Friday as he made his way over to him.
"Something wrong mate?" Ron asked.

"Sorta. I'll tell you when we get to class."

Harry's two friends shared a knowing look as they followed Harry

across the grounds. Another person too, had noticed the slight
difference in Harry, but was trying to convince himself that he
didn't care.

Wonder what's wrong with Scarhead? Draco thought. Well, Potter

would tell his friends soon enough, most likely in Creatures (Draco
still didn't know why he himself continued to take that class...).
Ah, the joys of being a Veriae... it was rather windy today. One of
the things Draco liked about breezes... they were very chatty. He
couldn't speak to them himself, but they had the uncanny ability to
figure out what he wanted to know. And so, every part of the
conversation Potter and his friends had would be heard by Draco.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, then?" Ron asked as they stood away from the other
groups that were taking care of their latest charge... a mini-dog-
looking-thing that had a strange fish-like tail and webbed paws.
"You mean you read the book too?"

"No, 'Mione told me. What are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I like Draco Malfoy as much as you do."

"Which isn't very much then," Ron met Hermione's glare. "What?
I'm being truthful."
Harry smiled softly. "I know you¡¯re trying your best to support
me, Ron. Stop looking at him like that, Hermione. After all, as
long as I don't reject Malfoy over there, nothing bad happens."

"Are you sure about this Harry?"

"Positive. I will not be bonded to Malfoy."

"Thank you Merlin," Ron muttered under his breath, earning

another glare from Hermione.

All three started at Pansy's shriek. "Professor! It's Draco! He

fainted!"

Hermione turned shocked eyes to Ron and Harry, who shrugged

and continued watching the sleeping "mini-dog-like-thing".

"He couldn't have heard us Hermione. He's half a field away, for
Merlin's sake. You could hardly see him from here," Ron pointed
out.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I'm just jumping to conclusions." But

deep down, she wondered if she was jumping to the right
conclusion. "Harry, you know how you always carry your cloak
with you?" she asked, emphasizing "cloak" so Harry would know
what it meant.

"Yeah, why?"

"May I borrow it?"

"Sure... wait right now?"

"I want to find out what's going on."

Harry shook his head but relented. "Just make sure you don't get
caught."

Hermione nodded, slipping into the shadows of invisibility.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius Malfoy burst into the infirmary, wings snapping in anger,
followed by a somewhat irate looking Professor Snape who'd been
sent to fetch the elder Malfoy. All eyes in the room (which
included any staff who weren't teaching at the moment) were
trained on the boy lying, deathly pale, on the bed.
"I don't know what happened," Madam Pomfrey said worriedly.
"According to Hagrid, he just fainted. There was no cause. He
doesn't have any characteristics of being sick... he just won't
wake."

Lucius cradled his son's hand in his own, his fingers tracing the
vein back up the boy's arm to the point when it was nearest the
surface. Draco's blood was as cold as ice. What had Potter done?
For the first time in his life, the Malfoy facade threatened to
crumble.

"Dumbledore. I will be taking Draco to his room," he spoke

abruptly, his eyes searching out those of the Headmaster and then
those of Snape. The Potion Master's own eyes widened in
recognition as Dumbledore gave his permission despite Madam
Pomfrey's protests.

After Lucius had left, cradling his son's body to his own as if he
would never have the chance to do so again, Snape spoke. "Don't
bother trying to protest, Pomfrey. Draco should at least be able to
die in his room with his remaining family."

"Die?"
Shrouded eyes widened as Hermione made her way out of the
room. Draco had heard Harry. Now all she had to do was get to
Harry to tell him. But would Harry care enough to save him even
though that meant practically chaining himself to Draco Malfoy for
the rest of his life?

Chapter Eight: Flight at Midnight

Lucius stood at the window in Dumbledore's office, watching the

rain pelt down mournfully against the glass.

"Nature knows what is coming. It anticipates the death of a Veriae,

and it prepares to mourn." Dumbledore's voice came softly from
beside him. The Headmaster's gaze followed Lucius's across the
grounds of Hogwarts, towards the Forbidden Forest. "You knew
they were destined to be together, did you not?"

"I did. I was acquiring Draco's schoolbooks when Draco was being
fitted for his robes for his first year here. I returned before Narcissa
and happened to see both Draco and Potter were being fitted in the
same room, my son chatting away as usual, both surrounded by
auras so similar it scared me. While my son did not recognize the
fabled Harry Potter, I did. I knew the Dark Lord would stop at
nothing to return, so I feared for my son's life. It seems my fears
were more correct than I wished them to be."

"You told your son to befriend Harry."

"Yes. But that did not happen. I hope Ronald Weasley is happy
with himself today, for at midnight Draco dies. His father's grudge
against my family can then be finally put to rest."

"Lucius, your son and your grudge played a large part in Harry's
decision."
"But out of the two families, it is the Malfoys who will regret it."

Lucius turned to leave, his face impassive, his emotions only

betrayed by a single crystal tear that fell to the plush rug of
Dumbledore's office.

"Can you not help him, Lucius? Draco is strong; he may be able to
live through it... even if no Veriae ever has."

"Draco ran to the forest when he woke. I could not even begin to
fathom where he has gone."

"So you will give up that easily, Lucius? You will let your son
die?"

"Consider my options, Dumbledore, before you condone my

actions. Suicide is unbecoming of a Malfoy." Lucius spoke
gravely. "If I were to find him, Draco would ask me to kill him."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry woke, gasping. Voldemort was pleased, and for the first time
in weeks, Harry had felt every painful moment. There was no
reassuring blackness, no voice to whisper sweet words, and no
wings to shelter him from the pain. Had that... had that actually
been Draco, as the book had said? Harry's eyes shifted over to the
clock that sat on his bedside table. 11:30.
That was bad. Wait, why was that bad? Why did Harry feel so
empty inside? Like something important was slipping away from
him... something he desperately wanted to hold on to.

Almost on an impulse of their own, Harry's arms reached for the

book that he'd insisted to Hermione that he read, but he had put
down after realizing what it was telling him. Something was
wrong, something which he had ignored when Hermione had tried
desperately to explain to him, and now he wanted to find out what.

His eyes hurriedly scanned the headings, to find the page that he
had lost when he'd slammed the book shut. Finding the page
number, his fingers dove through the pages, almost as if they knew
he had to hurry. As his emerald orbs picked up the paragraph about
mates, they widened as the truth of the situation hit. And it hit
harder than a Crucio ever could have.

Draco. Dead. At midnight. Wait... Why did he care? No more

Draco, no more insults, no more underhanded Slytherin pranks
directed solely at him... no more competition at Quidditch... no
more... just no more.

Draco had wronged him... many times in fact. Yet, Draco had been
the first wizard he had ever come in contact with that didn't
acknowledge the fact that he was... well, different. Draco had
extended a hand of friendship to Harry, albeit rudely. But... he
hadn't really been rude to Harry... just to Ron.

Ron had started it...

Harry blinked. Ron had started it all. Harry had fallen into the
same pit that he accused Draco of being in... he had taken Ron's
opinion of Draco as the black and white of the situation. And Ron's
interpretation of Draco had come, not from analyzing Draco, but
from what he had heard from his father about Lucius. Draco was
not Lucius. Lucius was not the Malfoy who had saved Harry from
the wyverns, nor was he the Malfoy who had fainted after Care of
Magical Creatures... where he must have heard Harry's words to
his friends somehow, nor was Lucius the one who had the same
aura as Harry.

What did Harry really know about Draco?

Nothing. Except that Draco knew how to retaliate, and had a fierce
sense of pride. Harry had treated Draco... in the exact same way
that he had treated Lucius when Lucius was acting the Death
Eater... a part which, from what he had seen of Lucius in the two
classes Lucius had taught, had proven an incorrect assessment.

But could Harry piece anything together about Draco? The

younger Malfoy did not really judge by appearances, as he had not
even noticed Harry's scar unless he was in the middle of the public
eye. In First Year, Draco had been paired with Harry for detention
in the Forbidden Forest, and had actually held the lantern... even
though he outwardly complained that the whole thing was
"servant's stuff". In Second Year, Draco had stolen a small present
that was obviously meant for another student, yet he had first asked
Crabbe and Goyle (or who he thought were Crabbe and Goyle) if
the present was theirs... thus implying that he wouldn't have taken
it had it been theirs. And on through the years... Draco had
protected his own image in Fifth Year (imagine the scandal if a
Malfoy was found to be anything less than a model student by the
Ministry) with that horse of a woman, Umbridge. That had been
his worst act against Harry, yet he hadn't been the one to bring the
information about the DA to Umbridge either.

So did Harry want to let Draco die? No, not really. Yet, did Harry
love Draco? Not Draco Malfoy, just Draco. The same Draco whose
feathers turned from sharp to satin when Harry touched them. The
same Draco who'd stood in-between Harry and the triad of
wyverns from the Forbidden Forest with only those wings and his
forming bond with the magic patterns around him for protection.
The same Draco who'd told Harry that Voldemort's aura was pink
just to make conversation. The same Draco who had, perhaps
inadvertently, stood between Voldemort and Harry with only his
wings every night in Harry's dreams... except tonight... because
Harry was killing him. So did Harry love Draco?
Harry himself didn't know... yet somehow, something inside him
said, "Yes."

As Harry swept from the dormitory with his Firebolt in hand, his
clock said 11:50.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco's eyes seemed clouded by his aura, as he stumbled forward,
wings fluttering violently to help him keep his balance. It covered
him now, his aura... it would suffocate him. He just knew it. The
darkness would suffocate him and he would die, and by now he
truly didn't care. Pain lanced its way through his limbs, as his body
protested against any movement. But Draco didn't want to die here.
It had been a mistake to run to the Forest. He couldn't escape what
was happening now. If he'd stayed at Hogwarts at least he could
have begged his father to finish him quickly. Now that would be
fitting. For Draco to die the way Harry's parents had, the last
remnants of happiness that Harry could have held on to swept
away with that same beam of green light... the color of Harry's
eyes.

Wise eyes watched Draco intently, as the Veriae's aura started to

become visible and the pale boy fell to the ground. These eyes
were quickly cast up to the heavens and with a horrified start,
galloping hooves began to make their way to the castle.

Why has Dumbledore not seen it? Firenze thought frantically. How
could he have let things get this bad? Once Draco dies, Harry will
soon follow... the stars tell so and they do not lie. What use was it,
teaching Dumbledore to read the cosmic signs, if he does not use
the skill? Draco must be saved. Or else, the world will crumble
under darkness... a darkness that was fittingly the same color as the
fated aura that now is threatening to destroy Draco.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A boy on a broomstick zoomed down the halls of Hogwarts, his
thoughts whirling. Draco's not here.
WhereisDracowhereisDracowhereisDraco?

The broom was pulled to a sudden stop at a large window, its view
overlooking the grounds of Hogwarts. Wait... what was Firenze
doing outside of the Forest-

The Forest!

Glass exploded outwards as the boy guided his broom out of the
castle, pocketing his still smoking wand as he did so.

"Harry Potter!" Firenze's voice carried upward through the pelting

rain. "You must hurry-"

"Where's Draco?"

"In the Forest! You must find him before he dies!"

"I know!" Harry screamed through the rain as he hurled forward

towards the looming trees, hand falling back to his wand. "Point
me!" his voice shrieked through the rain, raspy and hurried.

Following the direction given by the wand, boy and broom entered
the Forest.

"Draco!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clouded eyes opened slightly. What?
"Draco!"

Why would someone call his name? Darkness surrounded him... so

sleepy.

"Draco!"

Go away; darkness feels no pain. Draco didn't want to feel pain

anymore.

"Draco!"

Orbs of black laced with silver blinked. "Harry?" came the startled
whisper.

"Draco!"

Harry landed ungracefully on the ground next to the fallen boy.

One could hardly see Draco, cloaked as he was in an aura of
ebony. It'll suffocate him! Harry thought frantically as he dove into
the clouded aura.

"Don't die, Draco," he muttered, as he fought through rain and aura

to get next to Draco. The wings seemed to hear what the boy did
not, as they began to beat at the aura, working as if to push it away.

Harry managed to grasp Draco as the aura began to disappear. He

paled slightly as he saw eyes blink slowly at him, normally a
silver, now an ebony black.

The darkness was going away... why was it going away? Was he
dead now? No... but that's Harry - blink - Harry's not dead yet.
"Why are you here?" The voice--was that his voice?--spoke low
and slurred.

"Draco, I don't want you to die. Don't die!"

Die? Was he not dead already? No... the darkness was gone now.
He was not dead.

"I'm not dead," the voice spoke again, in that same low and
expressionless tone. And the boy's eyes began slowly to change
colors, the silver working its way through the black, as Harry
smiled.

Chapter Nine: Awaken

Draco's eyes opened to a sight he didn't ever expect to see again:

his room. Even more wondrous was the fact that his father was
sitting next to his bed and had apparently been keeping vigil,
which the worn look on his face implied. This was something his
father had not done since he was six and had come down with
some sickness that he himself couldn't remember anything of
except his father raging at his mother that he wouldn't have his son
die from some stupid muggle illness (Draco's mother had been of
the opinion that his father had been over-reacting at the time.).

"How are you feeling?" His father asked quietly as Draco blinked
and looked around curiously.

"Strange." Came the answer. And that was the only explanation
that Draco could think of. He felt all weird inside.

"Considering the fact that you survived suffocation, I'm not

surprised."

Draco blinked. "Then why am I not stupid?"

Draco's father looked at Draco as if what his son had said could not
be processed by his brain.

"When you start to suffocate, your brain starts to die, so why am I

not stupid?"

Lucius smirked wryly. "Because you're a Veriae."

"Oh." And that explained that. "So why am I not dead, again?"

"Because your intended got cold feet a few minutes before your
death and rescued you," Lucius spoke dryly as if this wasn't really
what he thought of the matter. "He carried you out of the Forest
once your aura had returned into your being and your wings
retracted."

Now things weren't computing for Draco. "Wait, Potter saved

me?"

"Apparently so, although the why of the matter still eludes me."

"He doesn't love me."

"You're so sure of that?"

"He hates me."

Lucius looked at his son pointedly. He already knew that.

"One night isn't going to change years¡¯ worth of feelings."

"Maybe." Came Lucius's response, but the older Malfoy was

thinking. Something in what Draco had said had triggered a
memory of a conversation he'd had with the Dark Lord a month or
so before the "Department of Mysteries" incident. Something
about impulses... but he couldn't remember why that was important
at this moment in time so he returned to Draco, pushing the
memory back into the recesses of his mind to ponder over later.

"You'll have to see him today."

"We have classes together."

"Not for classes, Draco. You'll need to work things out with him
today. He's had long enough to mull it over anyway; you might as
well talk about your situation."

"What situation? And why has he had time to 'mull it over'?"

Lucius's eyebrow rose. "Draco, exactly how much of that book did
you skim over?"

Draco at least had the modesty to look bashful. "Everything after-"

"After you found out about the Aspectus and what it meant."
Lucius finished with an air of disappointment. "You figured you
would never have a mate and therefore it wouldn't apply to you."

"Yes Father."

"Well, Draco, then you had better ask Granger for that book back
because as of three days ago, when you were on the road to
suicide, you gained a mate and now you must act accordingly."

"Three days ago?"

"You have been sleeping for three days as your body recovered.
Normal humans wouldn't have been able to survive without air for
as long as you did, and even in Veriae terms you were much too
close to death to survive and get up the next morning to play
Quidditch."

His father's sarcastic tone was not lost on him. "Oh."

"So, now you have a mate to deal with. A mate, who a few
moments ago, you said does not love nor even like you."

"Oh."

And that summed up Draco's feelings quite nicely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Lucius had pointed out, Harry had been given three days of
time to mull over his current situation. And reading that book from
cover to cover had given him a lot of time to think... and to berate
himself. Well, he'd started berating himself after he'd met Draco's
father waiting for them at the doors to the castle... or more like
waiting for him to carry Draco's sleeping form to the doors of the
castle. Draco had exchanged hands and been carried off to
wherever it was thought proper by Lucius to take him, and Harry
had walked up to the boys dorm lost in thought. He'd never gotten
there. Ron had been waiting for him in the Gryffindor Common
Room. The conversation had been awkward to say the least.

"You know, you could have told me Harry," Ron said, looking into
the cheerfully blazing fire. "I would have supported you. I told you
that."

Harry frowned. "Ron, I don't know what to think right now... can
we talk about this later?"
Ron had agreed, and they both had gone up to bed, not saying
another word. Well, Ron had gone to bed. Harry had stayed up,
reading and thinking. At about four in the morning, he'd given up
on reading and had just sat on his bed thinking. He'd done it again,
and this time he really couldn't say why. At the moment he¡¯d felt
he had been doing the right thing yet looking back on the moment,
he felt all confused. The feelings between this night and the now,
and that night and the then were identical... sort of. Except this
time no one had died. Last time... the last time Harry had given in
to his impulses like that... Sirius had died.

I can't believe I did that again, he berated himself. He didn't know

what to think, he decided at exactly 4:09 in the morning. He really
didn't. He'd saved Draco's life, that much he knew, but why? Now
that the moment was gone, he could look back and see that he'd
acted purely on impulse.

But an impulse of what? His mind asked rebelliously. Harry

ignored this question he could not answer and went on with his
analyzing.

Without complete knowledge of the information he could have

had, he'd taken the plunge. Yes, there were somewhat "better"
results this time, there was a bright side to look to. No one had
died. No one had even gotten hurt... well, except for the window.
But was what he had done truly the right thing? Harry didn't know.

In fact, three days later Harry still didn't know, and still hadn't
come to grips with the strange feelings that had prevailed that
night. The ones that had told him to save Draco's life at all costs
because it was important, necessary... even, maybe, mandatory was
the right word to use. Whenever he thought of how he'd felt during
that night, he eventually had to come back to those feelings that
had driven his impulses, and whenever he thought of those... he hit
a roadblock. Because he truly couldn't say he understood how he'd
felt. He could go over the exact same arguments now, three days
later, in his head, and yet they didn't have the same compelling
force. Maybe that was because Draco's life wasn't in danger at this
moment in time, maybe he was just being ignorant, but something
inside him was downright glad that Draco wasn't dead. The other
parts of him that were more logical were... dealing with the
situation as best they could.

And for these three days that he'd been thinking, Ron and
Hermione had turned, almost, into shadows around him. Ron must
have told Hermione of Harry's request to talk about it later, as she
wasn't prying for details. In fact, surprisingly, the whole school
wasn't prying for details. Well, at least not from him. The entire
Slytherin house was in a state of panic over Draco's current health
issue. Of course they had been told that he was very sick, enough
to be quarantined in his room ("The Slytherins get their own
rooms?" Ron had choked out when the announcement had been
made), and couldn't see anyone. Of course this went in one ear and
out the other of the Slytherin house, but were met by the
jurisdiction of one Lucius Malfoy when they tried to sneak in to
see Draco anyway.

The Hufflepuffs were curious but not as compelled as the

Slytherins to find out about his welfare. The Ravenclaws were
nonchalant, nodding and going back to their books.

And the Gryffindors... well, they (all par three) were celebrating on
different levels of seriousness. There were several in Harry's year
who were talking about actually throwing a party if Draco didn't
recover in time for the next Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match because
surely Snape couldn't somehow manage to postpone that as well.
(Of course, Harry, who knew all the reasons why Draco wasn't
well enough to play the morning after that night didn't comment on
this.) And then there were those that just shrugged and went on
with their lives. Harry had a suspicion that Hermione would have
been in this group and Ron would have gladly been part of the
latter had they not also been privy to the real reasons behind
Draco's sudden lack of mobility and overall activity. And for his
own sake, Harry assumed, they had said nothing about that matter
and had waited for him to make the first move towards them.

And three days later, they sat facing each other (somewhat in a
triangle form) in an empty classroom, waiting for someone to
speak the first words.

"Well Harry," Hermione spoke at length. "It seems you should

catch us up. The last time we spoke, you weren't going to bond
with Draco."

"And it's a little too late for that now isn't it?" Ron asked,
surprisingly without malice, although Harry could tell that Ron
was putting out a valiant effort to not be emotional.

"Yes. It's a bit late for that," Harry spoke. He still didn't know what
Ron and Hermione knew about the situation. He assumed
Hermione had done what he had and read the book cover to cover,
but she might not have told Ron the full details within.

"So you are going through with it, then?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think I have much of a choice," Harry muttered as

Hermione nodded knowingly.

"I don't get it," Ron spoke. "Why doesn't Harry have a choice?"

"Well Ron," Hermione spoke. "Harry, by stopping Draco's Veriae

side from killing him in an effort to appease his soul mate-"

"Wait a minute. What?"

"That's why the Veriae will commit suicide," Harry muttered,
staring at the floor. "In a twisted way, it thinks that killing itself
will make the mate happy if the mate hates it so much that he/she
won't bond with him/her."

"Weird," Ron muttered.

"Yes, anyway, now that Harry has... well... shall we say,

committed himself to the Veriae side of Draco Malfoy, he'll now
have to complete the bond."

"Or...?"

"Draco will do it for him," Hermione finished and Harry winced.

"WHAT?"

"Remember how Veela treat their mates, Ron?" Hermione asked a

stuttering Ron. "Well, Veriae are not Veela in any genetic way, but
their need to complete the bond now that the soul mate, in this
instance Harry, has committed himself will start to look very
similar if Harry doesn't complete the bond himself."

"So Harry's going to... mate... with Malfoy?" Ron couldn't keep the
slight disgust out of his voice and for the second time Harry found
himself wincing.

"Not like that, Ron." He spoke and Ron heaved a sigh of relief.

"That's right. Harry's only got to kiss him."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Potter's got to kiss me?" Draco half shouted as the elder Malfoy
finished explaining how his son would complete the bond with
Harry Potter.

"Draco!" Lucius's own voice rose in volume, reminding the

younger Malfoy that shouting at the top of one's lungs like that was
an undignified act unbefitting of a Malfoy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron blinked and then frowned. "What kind of kiss are we talking
about Hermione?"
Harry also frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

"The book doesn't say, but I'm guessing it¡¯s just a regular kiss."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's no tongue, right?" Draco asked worriedly. Lucius's eyes
looked to the ceiling in a "why me" gesture of annoyance before he
shook his head in a definite no. Draco heaved a sigh of relief.
"May I continue explaining then?" Lucius asked pointedly and
Draco fought down the urge to yelp.

"There's more?"

"Of course, what did you think? One kiss and you never see each
other again?"

"I'd rather hoped that..."

"Don't be an idiot, Draco."

"I'm sorry Father."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And then what? That's it?"

"No," Harry spoke, his voice void of emotion. This was the part
where those funny and unexplainable feelings of his started acting
up.

"Well, Ron, they're bonded."

"And that means what exactly?"

"Well, they'll have to share the same bedroom."

"WHAT?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"WHAT?"

Lucius rolled his eyes in his first unMalfoyish gesture in exactly

fifteen minutes. "Do I really need to repeat myself, Draco?"

"No Father."

"Good."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Again, not like that, Ron. Draco's
Veriae side... well you could almost think of it as a feminine side
really, it needs the protection of its soul-mate when Draco is
vulnerable. Now, when Draco's awake and aware of his
surroundings, I doubt he's 'vulnerable' but when he's asleep... well
everyone's vulnerable when they're sleeping. So his Veriae side
will need Harry in close proximity. Maybe not in the same bed but
in the same room."
"Oh." Ron looked relieved. "But what if Harry doesn't want to or
something?"

Thanks for acting as if I'm not here, Harry thought before

answering out loud. "If the bond between myself and... Malfoy
(Harry was unsure if he should start trying to call Malfoy "Draco"
now, but decided against it.) starts to disintegrate, as in if we aren't
around each other when the Veriae side needs us to be around each
other-"

"It takes its toll on the body," Hermione finished. "So basically, if
Harry doubles over in pain we'll know to get him to Malfoy."

Ron nodded slowly, his face a few shades lighter than it was
previously.

"And this includes having other bed partners."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Wait a minute! So if I want to have sex I have to do so with Potter
and only Potter?" Draco glared at the nearest offending inanimate
object, which happened to be one of his bedposts as his father
nodded the affirmative. "Well that's a pain."
Lucius internally groaned. And here he thought he was done
talking to Draco about these types of matters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Harry, I am so glad I'm not you right now," Ron muttered and
Harry personally agreed with him. Harry would be glad not to be
Harry at this moment in time. And yet, there were those feelings
again... those weird impulses that didn't really seem to mind some
of these prospects that the logical part of him should have been
condemning. Strange.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a few minutes of silence between father and son, Lucius
spoke. "You had better get up. The sooner you get this situation
fixed between the two of you, the sooner you will be able to relax."
"Relax?" Draco all but yelped. How in the name of all things
magical was he supposed to relax? He was going to be completely
bonded to Potter of all people before the day was out. And while
his Veriae side didn't mind it in the least, the last part of Draco
Malfoy as the world saw him had major issues with it.

"I believe you heard me correctly. Remember, if you handle this

correctly, you can force your own contact with Potter to a
minimum..." The elder Malfoy stood and walked towards the door
to the room. "...if you choose to." And he left as Draco started and
glared at the door which closed behind his father silently.

Presumably, his father was going to find someone to find Potter or

maybe even find Potter himself... but what was his father talking
about with those last words? Draco shook himself slightly and
started the process of getting out of his warm bed and moving
towards the shower. There was no way he was going to see anyone
if he hadn't showered in three days.

Chapter Ten: Awkward Beginnings

Now, over Harry's years of existence, he had been in some very

odd and, in some ways, disconcerting, situations. Let's start with
First Year, shall we? All the people looking in shock at him when
his name was called to be sorted; Snape asking him those questions
at his first ever Potions class (yes, that wasn't the easiest of
moments); seeing that the back of one of his teachers' head was in
fact just the start of another head (that was definitely a mental
image that he could live to a ripe old age without having, thank
you very much!)... Then in Second Year... oh, start with the
Whomping Willow problem; and then that meeting with Filch
where both he and Ron thought they were going to be expelled;
watching his arm bend back upon itself when a teacher had taken
all of his bones away; all of Dobby's meetings/warnings; yup, no
loss of strange situations in Second Year, and this time he didn't
even include Voldemort in that list. Then Third Year rolled around
and you had the dementor problems; and shall we say, animagi and
other magical creature problems; the time turner bit; yes, that about
sums it up nicely. Fourth Year brought the annoying bit about
being picked for the Tri-Wizard tournament without entering; Rita
Skeeter's issues (and we'll leave it at that) ; finding out that what
should have been a show of good sportsmanship actually turned
out to be a very nice way to kill innocent victims... Harry still
hadn't gotten over that one. And then, last but not least, Fifth Year.
And Harry's frazzled mind wasn't going to even start on that year.

But waiting outside a very large portrait of Medusa for the

inhabitant inside the room to finally open the bloody door, was not
a situation that he had encountered before; certainly not waiting for
Draco Malfoy to open the door to his room so that they could kiss.
Nope, never been in this situation before... Harry wondered if this
fell in the "strange" category or the "slightly disturbing" category,
and then vaguely wondered if he should create a new category of
"reasons why I will need to see a shrink when I get older"...
hmmm, no too many words... how about "slightly disturbing"?
Yes, that worked really nicely.

So the first strange situation of Sixth Year was... well, it would

have to have been the whole "Lucius Malfoy has feathers" bit. And
then, finding that Dumbledoor wanted Harry to be okay if Draco
Malfoy, of all people, wanted to pop in on a DA meeting (which
thankfully had not occurred) would be next; then learning that he
was Draco's intended... yeah that was a situation all right. And then
the whole thing three days ago, which he really needed to get
straightened out before he really lost his mind, would fall into the
new "slightly disturbing category", Harry mused. And last, this
situation. Come to think of it... once that portrait opened, a
different "slightly disturbing" situation would be presented.

And open the portrait did, the Medusa gleefully ignoring the boy in
front of her as she had been doing for the ten minutes since Harry
had gotten here.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

Neither of the two boys seemed to know what to say next, and of
course neither wanted to admit it either. They most likely would
have stood their indefinitely, if Draco's Veriae side hadn't been
close to crowing gleefully about the wonderfulness of the whole
thing.

"I guess you should come in, unless you want to kiss me in the
hall," Draco remarked, moving away from the doorway so that the
other boy could walk through.

Draco's room was very green, Harry noticed. Slytherin to the core,
except Draco seemed to be under the impression that the Slytherin
colors were green, silver, and black. The room really did look
much like Harry would have expected the Slytherin dorm rooms to
look like, having seen their Common Room.

"Sometime today, pack all your stuff so a house elf can bring it
down," Draco muttered, trying to just get this over with. Then
again... and Draco began to think, and do what Slytherins do best:
plot cunning schemes. Sometimes Draco was so cunning he
amazed even himself. Yes, he would enjoy this. Very much so.

"I hope my bed isn't so Slytherin," Harry muttered back, trying to

find a way to be semi-polite as there really wasn't much of a choice
in the matter and he knew it.

Draco nodded. "I can make the sheets black if you want." That
hadn't been what Harry had meant, and they both knew it, but
Draco had decided to just flow with the situation and enjoy
freaking the living daylights out of Harry as he did so. Yes, it was
decidedly fun to be a Slytherin. "So shall we do this or do you
want to stand around all day?" Draco asked, watching for Harry's
reaction. It wasn't what he had anticipated.

"Whatever. You're the one who needs to complete the bond, not
me."

Draco raised an eyebrow. " Too true. So if you don't mind..."

Draco closed the space between them before Harry's mind had the
time to register that-one-Draco had agreed with Harry, and-two-
Draco was actually going to do this. A forceful hand grabbed
Harry's chin with and brought it up to meet his own, but the actual
kiss was tender. Lips gliding over lips, silk on satin, breath
mingling together for only a moment or two, and then Draco pulled
away. The look on Harry's face, or more importantly, in Harry's
eyes was worth it. The confusion. Had Draco had any doubts about
how good he actually was at this, he wouldn't have any now. When
he'd roughly began the kiss, Harry could have taken it. Two
enemies that hated each other would not be expected to kiss in a
gentle nature, but Draco had turned the tables and now the little
Gryffindor didn't know exactly what to make of it. Perfect.

"By the way, the password's Gloria Draconis. You have to say it
before she'll even look at you." And by "she" Draco meant the
Medusa. She didn't like anyone who did like snakes, and therefore
all of Draco's passwords had been rigged accordingly.

"'Glory to the Serpent'? How original," Harry scoffed, momentarily

forgetting that the first ever password to the Gryffindor Common
Room had been Caput Draconis, or 'Head of the Serpent'.

Draco waved it off; Harry would understand the attitude of Medusa

soon enough. "Bring back my Potions homework when you come,"
he replied and watched Harry mentally groan in remembrance that
the one class he had this afternoon was Potions. "It should be
starting in five minutes, correct?" The question was soft, and yet
snide at the same time.

"Whatever, Malfoy." And Harry forcefully strode from the room,

leaving Draco half-grinning, half-smirking in his wake. Yes, being
a Slytherin was so much fun.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was decidedly happy when he finished Potions that
afternoon and had time to think without worrying that Snape would
deduct house points for thinking in class (which by now, Harry
wouldn't put past him). And he finally let the thoughts which he'd
been pushing back come to the surface as he found a comfortable
nook in a somewhat deserted section of the library.
Draco Malfoy had kissed him today. Strange. Harry guessed he'd
expected a bit more. Wasn't that kiss connecting the bond thing?
So shouldn't it have been... somewhat special? But it had been just
a kiss and had felt exactly like one. Now, Harry would be the first
to admit that he was no expert in the field if one could call it that)
of kissing. After all, his first, and regrettably only, kiss with
someone who wasn't "family" was with Cho... and that had not
been the most pleasant of things. Malfoy had obviously a bit more
practice than Cho... scratch that, a whole lot more practice, as
Malfoy had obviously known exactly what he was doing. And,
surprisingly, with very pleasant, if unexpected, results. Which
really was the root of the matter. Harry had enjoyed it... well, until
reality came crashing down and he remembered that he was kissing
Draco Malfoy which kind of took away some pleasant factors. But
if he momentarily forgot that it had been Draco Malfoy kissing
him, and just concentrated on how the kiss itself felt... he wouldn't
mind doing it again, and maybe... a bit more often. Of course,
being that it had been Draco Malfoy kissing him, Harry doubted
very much that the experience would ever repeat itself, and he
guessed that he shouldn't want it too... but still...

And with that Harry decided that he was over-analyzing way too
much. He hated Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy hated Harry Potter.
And that was that. So he was an adolescent and adolescents (along
with most of the rest of the population) enjoy kissing when it's
done well, so what? That did nothing to change the fact that Draco
Malfoy hated Harry Potter and vice versa, and that fact would
remain until the end of time itself.

And with that, Harry Potter had joined Draco Malfoy on the banks
of Denial, but had been very careful to build his housing of choice
on the opposite side of the river, away from Draco's manor because
they wouldn't want to be neighbors... no not at all.

Chapter Eleven: Settling In?

Dinner, which was normally a mostly cheerful and looked forward

to event (by the single fact that food was served), was not so
cheerful for four people on this night. These four people were:
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Draco Malfoy.

Draco was enjoying the last part of his day off (owing to the fact
that he was still "recovering" from his near death experience,
which by now had been pushed to the farthest reaches of his mind)
eating dinner while sitting on his bed in his room. The only bad
thing--which had therefore thrown him into this category with
three others whom he would never want to be listed with in any
way shape or form unless it was a list of people who hated each
other--was the seemingly unobtrusive addition to his bedroom.
Well, to some people it was seemingly unobtrusive... yes, some
people who were blind that is. Another bed had been "graciously"
added to his own bedroom, not three feet from his own emerald
and ebony bed. The house elves had added it, without his
permission he might add, to his bedroom while he had been
engaged in his Potions homework (which Harry had in fact not
bothered to bring him; Snape had done so instead) in the other
room of his "dormitory", which he personally had dubbed his
"study". He'd nearly had a heart attack when he unknowingly had
walked back into his room in order to grab another Potions
reference book. Somehow, looking at this... thing made the whole
situation much more real.

But Draco was recovering from this situation, he really was. In

fact, he prided himself on how well he was adjusting in the space
of time that it took to eat one meal. As he'd, in a way, promised
Harry, the boy's bed was not Slytherin colored. It was black and
red. Not that garishly and, in Draco's humble opinion, tacky red
that adorned everything Gryffindor, but a subtle blood red. It was
actually a nice addition that accented the color scheme of the
room... which was chiefly black, a color that was fast becoming
Draco's favorite color for reasons that he hadn't quite yet sat down
and thought about. Maybe he should... that would certainly get his
mind off the whole Potter subject...

The other three in the category of having-a-not-so-cheerful-dinner

were sitting in the Great Hall with other students of their house,
wondering exactly what was really done in situations like this one.
Harry was just trying to recover from the slight nausea that was
setting in because he'd just realized that his trunk was no longer in
the dormitory that had been his home-away-from-home (if you
could call his real "home" by that name). He would be rooming, as
in sharing living space, with Draco Malfoy. But that wasn't the real
nauseating part. For some strange reason, he didn't mind as much
as he thought he should.

Ron and Hermione were wondering what to say in the gap left by
Harry's contemplative silence. What did one say to a friend that
was going through something like this? Of course, what, at the
basic level, they might want to do would not be the right answer.
And they both knew it. Ron spewing about how much he hated
Draco Malfoy would not change the fact that Harry now had to
pretty much live with the boy, and Hermione asking about a
hundred times if Harry was okay wouldn¡¯t do much more than
Ron's spewing. So they were also silent. One almost had to thank
Ginny, who like most everyone else in the entire school (barring
several teachers, one parent, and one other student) didn't know
about this predicament, when she asked in a low voice at Harry's
elbow:

"Harry, when is the next DA meeting?"

Harry blinked, and then latched on to this safe and relatively

Draco-free subject. "What?"

"We haven't had a meeting in about a week. We're wondering

when the next one will be."

That much was true. They'd had only two or three meetings before
the whole non-Draco-free subject came up, and that had been a
while ago.

Ron also latched onto the idea. "Are you doing anything tonight
Harry? We could have it tonight."
"Ron-" Hermione was about to admonish Ron for even suggesting
such a thing, as the two boys hadn't even looked at the newest
Potions assignment, not to mention their other subjects which were
either half-done or not started at all. Then she caught the look in
Ron's eye, and more importantly, the underlying idea of this
impromptu meeting, and her tone of voice changed drastically. "-
that's a great idea! How about it, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, completely missing the underlying effect that if

they had a meeting he could put off spending the evening with
Draco Malfoy. "Sure," came the reply.

"Good. Ginny and I will spread it around. How about in..."

Hermione paused to consult the time, "...an hour? Will that be
enough time?"

"Sounds good," came the reply. And the second half of dinner was
spent talking in low tones among the three of them about what
exactly they would cover, a topic that put the Veriae bond between
Draco and Harry so far back in Harry's mind that he completely
forgot about it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The members of the DA (full name: Dumbledore¡¯s Army) had not
changed much. One or two had dropped out, and three or four had
asked to be in. But the idea of the DA was not wide spread
throughout Hogwarts. This was purely political, really. Even in
times of crisis, rules had to be followed, and the formation of an
"army" in school was not to be allowed. In truth, this was
something which Harry agreed with. He could just hear the
messages of the Howlers from different parents. I don't want my
child in the war, and all that. Having been through the muggle
educational system for most of his schooling, Harry was well
aware of how drafting was used in muggle wars, and though he
was unaware if the wizards had actually ever used a draft system,
he was sure the reaction of concerned wizarding parents would be
the same as muggle parents. It was a somewhat common muggle
saying that "no parent should have to bury his/her children", and
Harry also agreed with this, adding that ideally no one should have
to bury anyone who died an unnatural death. Harry was still coping
with the fact that if a body had been available for Sirius, he would
have had to bury his godfather. He'd "moved on" enough to be able
to live life the way he normally would, but the loss would always
be there. That much he was certain.
And speaking of certainties, he was certain that he was slightly late
to this impromptu DA meeting. So with hurried steps, he moved
towards the Room of Requirement.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Down a few floors, in the dungeon, Draco Malfoy suddenly
shivered, wings ripping through the fabric of his shirt. In
confusion, he threw a quizzical look over his shoulder. That was
weird. Then he sighed. He'd liked that shirt too...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione and Ron had already--with plenty of help from Ginny,
Harry was sure--separated everyone in pairs. The idea for the past
few meetings had been duels, with one new spell learned every
meeting. Hermione would teach the spell, with Ron to demonstrate
on, and would then demonstrate how to block said spell, again with
Ron to demonstrate on. Then the group would practice in pairs for
about half an hour, before turning to small duels. On the first
meeting, they'd taken turns dueling one on one with the rest of the
group watching so as to watch for flaws or exceptionally done
spells. Then they'd slowly progressed to one on two person duels,
and one on three, all the way up to this current meeting in which
there were six people on a rather large dueling platform (a
hexagonal shaped duplicate of the platform Lockheart had used in
Harry's second year) in a free-for-all in which the goal was to be
the last one standing.
This, of course, had to be carefully controlled. No spells that would
cause a trip to the infirmary was the major rule, although they'd
broken that once or twice... fortunately Dumbledore had talked to
Madam Pomfrey about it and explained the situation. She'd been
much more forgiving after that... well, not forgiving, but less
condescending at least.

Tonight, after Hermione finished her demonstration of a charm,

which was originally used in earlier times to boil water and could
be focused into a beam which could cause quite a number of nasty
burning oddities to the skin(she'd taken a bit longer than usually to
heal Ron, and Harry'd fought back a giggle when he'd realized that
this was because she got to hold on to Ron's hand while she did
so); the group chosen for the six-person duel included Harry. Most
of the time, Harry found an excuse not to participate as he didn't
want to place another spotlight on himself if he did something
exceedingly well (he practiced quite a bit more than he let on in
these duels and was therefore always afraid that he would slip), but
tonight he had been roped into it. Taking his position, Harry felt
rather strange, as if something was slightly wrong. Shrugging it off
as anticipation or slight nervousness, he waited for the signal to
begin.

All six bowed and waited for the sudden burst of light from
Hermione's wand which was the signal to begin. Harry saw it out
of the corner of his eye and barely had time to blink before a lance
of pain shot through his abdomen. He doubled over and a charm
flew over his head to form a slight dent in the wall where it hit.

The onlookers cheered slightly at what seemed to be a brilliant

display of reflexes on Harry's part, but Hermione caught the
slightly pained look on his face. Realization dawned on her and she
hurriedly grabbed Ron to whisper in his ear. He paled slightly,
watching the battle which was being waged on the platform.

Harry appeared to be dodging the attacks with even better reflexes

than he played Quidditch with, yet he was not enjoying himself.
Every time he was forced to duck in order to evade a curse or
charm, the slight look of pain intensified on his face.

Hermione's wand suddenly lit in a red color, a slightly different

charm from Lumos which had actually been used to mark off
apparating grounds until the eighteenth century when a muggle had
thought it to be a fire in the woods. The fighters on the platform
stopped moving, and a disappointed groan went through the
spectators as it always did when a duel ended without a decisive
victor. And this was the shortest time yet. But Hermione ignored
the questioning glances her way as Harry jumped off the platform
and made his way towards her, his face barely hiding a pained
expression.

"What's going on?" He whispered.

"Find Malfoy," was the mouthed answer and he nodded, leaving

the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What the-" Draco muttered as he was distracted again by a slight
twitch from his wings which caused him to take a large lurch
forward, nearly into his essay on the discovery of the Celtic Cross
tarot spread (which was for History of Magic, and not Divination).
Something was wrong around here. Then it hit him; exactly what
must be wrong. Draco groaned, getting up.
"I'm going, I'm going," He muttered at his wings, which fluttered
slightly in response.
Pain was now lancing down Harry's legs, from its starting spot just
below his bellybutton as he jogged down the dungeon hallways.
Luckily the hallways, which the dungeon was just crawling with,
were empty in this area. He was so intent on getting to that Medusa
portrait that he ran right into Draco, who was walking in a leisurely
pace away from the same portrait.

For his part, Draco was not sent sprawling to the floor, no, he was
merely knocked into and regained his balance rather quickly. As
did Harry.

"Potter, I am immensely displeased," he practically hissed as he

realized who had run into him. "Do you know how much this shirt
cost?"

Harry's eyes didn't even bother to scan the shirt, the back of which
was in shreds. "What is going on?" he managed to force out
through his vocal cords.

"Oh, you mean why you're in pain? Honestly Potter, what were
you doing to make the bond kick in like that?" Draco surveyed
Harry's slightly hunched over form.

"Make. It. Stop." Harry rasped.

Draco rolled his eyes and stepped forward, his hand grudgingly
finding its way under Harry's shirt to the skin just below his
bellybutton.

Harry blinked as the pain disappeared. "Glad that's over," he

muttered.

"Are you?" Draco quipped, raising an eyebrow in annoyance. "I

hope you keep that attitude for the next hour and a half."
"What?"

"We have a newly formed bond, Potter. It will take time for that to
be pacified enough to let us leave the other alone. See, I'll show
you."

And not even bothering to hide his glee, Draco slipped his hand
out from underneath Harry's shirt. Said boy blanched as the slight
burning sensation appeared again. He looked at Draco with an
expectant look as the other boy hesitated to replace the hand, but
he finally did so when Harry, none too nicely, kicked him.

"See what I mean?" Draco drawled.

"Why wasn¡¯t I informed of this?" Harry spoke, his tone accusing.

"Because it's information that the Veriae knows and others do not."
Was the simple and haughty answer. "Now, Potter, do you think
you might be able to start moving back towards my room as I do
not relish the idea of my fellow classmates finding us in this
position?"

Harry nodded and the two began to walk in measured steps back
towards the Medusa portrait.

Once back inside, Draco moved them towards one of the couches
in his study (green leather of course). "Start talking, Potter, you've
got an hour and twenty minutes."

"Talking about what?" Harry shot back.

"Explain what got you into this situation," was the answer.

"Well, let me think... nope, I don¡¯t think I know enough about the
Malfoy line to answer the question of how Veriae blood got-"
"Not about that, Potter, about this," Draco moved his hand away
from Harry momentarily to accent the point.

Harry sighed slightly and figured that it couldn't really hurt to

explain. "I was in the middle of a DA meeting-"

"What?"

Another sigh. "The DA. Dumbledore talked to you about it-"

"Oh, right, I remember now. The little defense group that you
started that I thought was a complete waste of my time. That DA."

Harry blinked as Draco spoke as though he was remembering a trip

to Diagon Ally. Oh, that trip. I remember I went and bought this,
that, and the other...

"Anyway, we were just starting a six-way duel-"

"You what? Are you crazy?" Draco practically shrieked.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't do that, you moron! No wonder the bond was so upset."
Draco looked accusingly at Harry.

"It's controlled-" Harry started to explain, but Draco wasn't done

ranting.

"You're just up and allowing people to throw curses at you!

Merlin, how stupid can you get?"

Harry fought the urge to groan. "Nothing even hit me," he pointed
out helpfully.
"Principle of the thing," Draco spat back venomously

"Whatever."

Draco's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then I'll just go to bed now." he

drawled, and moved back away from Harry.

"Don¡¯t you dare stop touching me!"

"Potter, do you know how wrong that sound-"

"Shut up, Malfoy!"

Draco smirked triumphantly and returned his hand to its original

spot. "The only person the bond will allow you to duel with like
that is me," he pointed out after a few seconds worth of silence.

"Oh that's a relief," Harry muttered. "Because I would really like to

hex you right about now."

Draco merely raised an eyebrow in response, looking eerily like

his father for a moment or two. "You may find that harder than you
think, Potter. Remember that."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, after the most awkward hour and a half of Harry's life was over
and Draco could remove himself from Harry's person without
Harry yelping in pain, Draco wordlessly disappeared into a room,
which Harry assumed was the bathroom to, as Harry assumed,
wash off that hand about a million times. Harry himself would
have done the same thing except Malfoy had beaten him to the
bathroom.
So Harry resolved to just ignore the fact that Malfoy's hand had
been under his shirt for over an hour, and set about making sure
that everything he owned was carefully stored in his trunk (which
had arrived at some point unknown to both Harry and Draco via
the house elves). Everything was there, and Harry made sure that
he locked the trunk before making his way to his bed, or what he
assumed was his bed by the fact that the pillow cases were a
bloody, red color. Very funny, Malfoy, he thought in Draco's
direction before climbing in. This was when he realized that the
sheets (and the blood red pillow cases for that matter) were silk.
Harry blinked... twice. And then decided that he really didn¡¯t or
shouldn't care. Whatever message Malfoy might or might not have
been trying to send by that was not going to be received by him, at
least not tonight.

Harry was vaguely aware of the water shutting off in the room
which Draco had disappeared into, and was even less vaguely
aware of Draco padding into the room in black silk pajamas, and
was even less aware of the whispered "Nox," which cast the room
into almost complete darkness. But he could not sleep. Not even
when his eyes adjusted to the gloom to the point where he could
watch the steady rise and fall of the other boy's chest three feet
away could his brain seem to shut itself down for sleep. It almost
wasn't fair, his sleepy mind thought. It's not fair that Draco can be
more at ease than I am about this. And Harry drifted off to sleep
before he could even register that he had just thought about Draco
Malfoy using his first name instead of his last.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was now starting to enjoy falling asleep at night, especially
with the complete halt of nightmares, which he would grudgingly
admit when awake, came with the announcement of Draco's Veriae
blood. It was nice to have dreamless sleep in which the only
thought which was shown to him was one of complete comfort and
protection. After so many instances where he had to protect
himself from the world, it was nice to feel protected, really
protected. And as Harry drifted through this sleepy haze that was
his dream world, he felt the silken caress of the ebony wings which
surrounded him, and there was something else soothing too.
Almost as if someone was there with him, something that he had
never experienced in any form of a dream before (unless you count
Voldemort's nightmares as people being in a dream with him). But
this person, a male, was unobtrusive, and seemed just as calm as
the aura of the dreamscape. The two seemed curled up together as
if nothing in the world really mattered to them, as if nothing would
ever break the serenity of this dream...
That is until Harry's eyes opened to make out in the dim light,
sleepy silver eyes that were also opening, and when both Draco
and Harry jumped apart from the embrace in which they'd been
cocooned in with identical shrieks.

Chapter Twelve: Home is Where the Heart is... Isn't it?

For a minute there was absolute silence before both boys said two
different things at the same time. ¡°What the hell?¡± and ¡°What is
going on?¡±

There was then a second of silence as each boy waited for the other
to repeat what he had said. Deciding then that this was not going to
happen, Harry spoke.

¡°Do you mind explaining what you were doing in my bed,

Malfoy?¡±

Draco rolled his eyes. ¡°Sleeping, what did it look like? And
Potter, you¡¯d better check again, because you were the one who
climbed into my bed!¡±
Harry looked over his shoulder slightly to see his bed sitting there
as if no one had slept in it at all during the night. Damn. Turning
back to Draco he snarled, ¡°Why the hell did I end up in your
bed?¡±

¡°How should I know?¡±

¡°You¡¯re the Veriae.¡± Harry replied in a droll tone.

¡°And so that makes me responsible for every little thing you

don¡¯t like?¡± Draco was incredulous. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly enjoy the
idea of you sleeping in my bed either, Potter, but what am I going
to do about it? Time travel isn¡¯t exactly one of the Veriae powers,
you know, so I can¡¯t go back to last night and stay awake long
enough to kick you out of my bed!¡±

¡°But I didn¡¯t crawl in your bed in the first place,¡± Harry pointed
out. He was absolutely sure that he had fallen asleep in his own
bed, not in Draco¡¯s.

¡°Whatever.¡± Draco sighed slightly and without another word

disappeared into the bathroom to take a very long shower.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius sat at the window of one of his rooms, thinking and sipping
a cup of coffee (this time in the morning was too early for wine). It
had been irking him since yesterday, that thing about impulses that
Voldemort had been so happy about. What had it been... something
about Harry walking right into a trap because of... those impulses.

Oh. Right. And Lucius remembered. Harry had given into the
impulses to "save" his godfather, someone who was the closest
link to family that Harry had... or so the Dark Lord was of the
opinion. But then... if, and it was a big if, if Harry¡¯s impulses had
stepped in to make him save Draco, then Draco¡¯s earlier
assessment of Potter would prove to be incorrect.

And Lucius smiled thinly over his drink. Yes, though Potter
didn¡¯t know it yet, he was slowly falling for Draco. One only had
to have seen the way Potter had cradled his son¡¯s body almost
protectively to himself as they emerged from the forest to know
that... and the best part was that Potter himself didn¡¯t realize it.
Draco wouldn¡¯t realize his feelings either, though, and that
caused Lucius to frown slightly. Draco had been obsessed with
Potter ever since... what, First Year? Second? Too young to realize
those types of emotions when they started, but the Veriae inside
him must have realized it at their first meeting. So Draco¡¯s life
had begun to revolve slowly but surely around Potter. Except
Draco assumed it was his hatred that kept him driving to best
Potter at anything and everything.

Lucius smirked now, his eyes gazing out over the grounds of
Hogwarts. Those two would be in for an interesting time when
they finally figured out their emotions. It would take a while, but it
would happen. And Draco would never need to go through the
same pain that he did when Voldemort had killed his intended.

Lucius vaguely heard someone speaking to the portrait outside his

room before the door opened and Snape walked into the room,
stopping when he saw the serene look on Lucius¡¯s face.

¡°Alright, what is it that has you this happy at this time in the
morning?¡±

Lucius smirked at the Potions Master. ¡°Were I to tell you, you

would most likely suffer cardiac arrest. Believe me, you do not
want to know.¡±
Snape looked questioningly at Lucius but didn¡¯t push the matter;
after all he had First Year Ravenclaws and Slytherins to teach this
morning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By the time Harry had showered, dressed, and gotten the things he
needed for classes ready, Draco had left the room without so much
as a word in his direction. This suited Harry just fine anyway, as
they¡¯d been playing the ¡°you don¡¯t exist and are just a figment
of my imagination¡± game since that ever so interesting
conversation they¡¯d had when they woke up.

Walking down to the Great Hall where the sounds of breakfast

could be heard, Harry¡¯s mind went over what happened on
Wednesdays. Wednesdays were nice because he only had one
class, even though it was doubled. It was that one class that made
the day ever so boring. Divination. Yeah... boring with a capital B.
But Harry had to take at least one elective and it was easy, so he
was rather stuck.

Ron and Hermione had saved him a spot at the table and Harry
gratefully sank into it and started in on breakfast.

¡°So how was the night with Ferret?¡± Ron asked over a mouthful
of eggs.

Harry shrugged. ¡°Nothing bad. We ignored each other the whole

time.¡± Until I woke up in his bed, Harry mentally added, but he
felt that wasn¡¯t a mental picture that Ron needed.

¡°Nothing strange happened? Like with the bond?¡± Hermione

asked.
¡°Not really. Malfoy had to touch me for an hour or so before the
pain went away but that¡¯s all that happened.¡±

Hermione looked as if she didn¡¯t really believe him, and Ron

looked like he was trying really hard not to throw up his food
because of whatever image his brain was supplying him with.

¡°Not like that, Ron.¡± Harry sighed and his friend looked visibly
relieved.

Halfway through breakfast, with all the mail owls flying around, a
tawny school owl dropped a note on Harry¡¯s plate, narrowly
missing the pool of syrup that had flowed off his pancakes. Harry
read it and frowned slightly.

¡°What is it?¡±

¡°It¡¯s a note that allows me to get out of any of my classes should

Malfoy feel threatened,¡± Harry muttered, passing the note across
the table.

¡°Hey, you should use that to get out of Snape¡¯s classes!¡± Ron
exclaimed.

¡°Except for the fact that Malfoy is in his Potions class,¡±

Hermione pointed out.

¡°Oh...¡± Ron didn¡¯t look so excited.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Divination room looked the same as it always had, now that
Umbridge was gone and Trelawney was back. Harry and Ron sat at
their customary table in the back of the room and waited for their
Professor to arrive.
¡°Welcome all,¡± came the misty voice, ¡°Today we will begin
learning the use of Tarot cards to help bring out your Inner Eye-¡°

¡°But what happens if my Inner Eye is shy and doesn¡¯t want to

come out?¡± Ron muttered and Harry grinned.

¡°-oh, and Harry, in ten minutes don¡¯t feel as if you have to ask
before you leave, dear. He will be waiting for you in the Great
Hall.¡±

What? Harry thought as the rest of the class looked at him

questioningly. Okay... maybe he should just use that prediction as
an excuse to leave the class in ten minutes...

¡°Now, there are many different spreads that are used for a Tarot
reading, so pay attention dears, for many of you will not
understand this for a week because you have not listened. The one
similarity for all these spreads is that they invoke your Inner Eye to
interpret their meaning, not just recognize it. One must know if a
card has appeared in the reversed position and what that means
verses when a card appears in the normal position. There are also
many kinds of Tarot decks that can influence the accuracy of the
reading based on how they relate to your Inner Eye. And within
these decks there are the Major Arcana cards and the Minor
Arcana cards. You will begin to memorize the differences in these
cards for our next class, but only four of you will have memorized
the meanings of all the Tarot cards in the deck that you will receive
at the end of this lesson. Now the Major Arcana is used for
general-¡°

Harry¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he felt a familiar burning

sensation beginning to creep down the walls of his stomach and
settle in a coil around his belly button. Oh no.
Not bothering to ask to be excused from class, Harry got up and
left the room.

Ron looked at the clock on the wall and grinned. It was nine
minutes into class, not ten. Should he point that out? Hmmm... of
course. Smirking boldly at the Professor, he raised his hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry ran into the deserted Great Hall to see Draco sitting calmly
at the Slytherin table waiting for him.

¡°What¡¯s wrong now?¡± Harry demanded and sat down angrily

next to Draco. As Draco¡¯s hand found its way underneath his shirt
again he added, ¡°I sure as hell wasn¡¯t in a dangerous situation.¡±

¡°No, I was.¡±

¡°Were you in Defense Against the Dark Arts or something?¡±

¡°No.¡±

Harry tried to think of more dangerous classroom situations. It

couldn¡¯t be care of Magical Creatures, Harry took that with him.
¡°Herbology?¡±

¡°No.¡±

¡°What class?¡±

¡°Ancient Runes.¡±

¡°WHAT? What, pray tell, is so dangerous about ANCIENT

RUNES?¡±
¡°Pansy,¡± Draco replied calmly as if that explained everything.
Seeing the skeptical look on Harry¡¯s face he continued. ¡°She
won¡¯t take a hint.¡±

Harry sighed and fought the urge to bang his head on a hard
surface. Oh well, at least he didn¡¯t have to go back to Divination.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Harry entered his and Draco¡¯s rooms that night he was
amazed to find Draco locked in the bathroom with the shower
running. How many showers did that boy take? Did he have some
kind of weird fetish for them or something? No-bad thoughts, and
why did Harry care anyway? It wasn¡¯t as if the water in Hogwarts
got cold if one took an extremely long shower after all. Shrugging
off his clothes and changing into pajamas, Harry climbed into his
own bed and decided to test a recent idea of his. Maybe if he fell
asleep first, he would remain safely in his own bed.

Harry was out like a light before Draco had gotten out of his
shower.

Harry awoke from a very pleasant dream about absolutely nothing

(which suited him just fine as that meant it was a very safe dream)
to find that he was in no hurry to get out of bed, lounging on his
stomach with his face buried on the nice soft pillow. At least he
was until a slightly muffled voice from his chest area decided to
comment on the morning.

¡°Okay, now this cannot become a normal occurrence, Potter. If

you insist on sleeping in my bed, than I insist on being on top.¡±

Harry balked and promptly fell off Draco and off the bed, landing
harshly on the floor. Oh, wasn¡¯t that a wonderful way to start the
morning.
Chapter Thirteen: Pinpointing the Problem

Harry sat in the library, facing Hermione and waiting for the girl to
respond. After a week of waking up in Draco-no-Malfoy¡¯s bed,
he¡¯d finally gotten fed up with trying to figure out how to stop it
on his own. He, or really they, had tried everything they could
come up with. First they¡¯d tried Harry falling asleep before
Draco. Hadn¡¯t worked, except for the small difference that
somehow Draco had been on top of Harry in the morning. Then
Harry tried sleeping out on the couch in a room completely
different from Draco. Hadn¡¯t worked, and they¡¯d only been
more tangled in each other when morning came that time. To be
sure he¡¯d covered every possibility, Harry¡¯d persuaded Draco to
sleep on the couch the next night. Needless to say... it hadn¡¯t
worked. Harry¡¯d ended up on the couch with Draco and Harry¡¯s
back had ached for the next day from the position he¡¯d slept in
that night.

Across the table one could almost see the gears turning in
Hermione¡¯s brain as she thought about the situation. ¡°Well, are
you sure you don¡¯t sleep walk Harry?¡±

Harry looked pointedly at Hermione. ¡°I think I would have

noticed it or Ron would have pointed it out to me by now.¡±

¡°Well, it was an option, Harry,¡± was the unabashed reply. ¡°But

because of your answer I¡¯m sure this is the bond between you
two.¡±

¡°Joy,¡± Harry muttered.

Hermione frowned. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve seen this type of scenario

before...¡±
¡°It¡¯s not in the Veriae book, I checked.¡±

¡°No, not there.¡± Hermione¡¯s eyes seemed to sparkle as she

started going through all the books she¡¯d read in the past month,
as it must have been in one of those...

¡°Oh, that¡¯s it!¡± she suddenly exclaimed, earning her a

disapproving look from the librarian which she completely
ignored.

¡°What¡¯s it?¡± Harry asked in a quieter voice.

Hermione didn¡¯t reply, as she¡¯d gotten up from the table and

was hurriedly making her way to a particular shelf in the library. A
few minutes later she came back and dropped a book on the table.

¡°Dream magic?¡± Harry asked, reading the title as best he could

upside-down.

¡°Well,¡± Hermione looked apologetically at Harry, ¡°I thought it

might be useful if there was a repeat of last year...¡±

Harry chose not to comment on that, instead he opened the book.

¡°So, how does this affect what¡¯s going on now?¡±

¡°Well,¡± Hermione¡¯s tone took on the excited tone it always had

when talking about learning, ¡°I read this around the second day of
school, so I didn¡¯t connect it to the Veriae thing-¡°

The second day of school? Harry shook his head. On the second
day of school, he¡¯d been putting off doing the homework
assigned on that first day of classes because it wasn¡¯t due the next
day.
Hermione had flipped through the book until she found the
paragraph she remembered. ¡°You see, this says that there are
some magical creatures that appear in their mate¡¯s dreams. By
doing so, the dream magic comes into play, and duplicates
whatever happens in the dream in real life.¡±

Harry blinked. ¡°I can honestly say I don¡¯t get it, Hermione.¡±

¡°Well, dream magic is normally dormant magic. Its job is to

balance out your magic as you sleep. Um, how do I explain this...
you know how when you sleep, your body sort of resets itself for
the next day?¡±

Harry nodded.

¡°Well, dream magic is a dormant form of magic that does the

same thing for your body¡¯s magic. Only a very powerful spell or
magical force can tamper with dream magic.¡±

¡°So you¡¯re saying-¡°

¡°That the bond which connects you two uses dream magic.¡±

¡°But how does it work? We had locked doors between us last

Thursday and they were still locked when we woke up!¡±

¡°Shifting space, maybe?¡± Hermione guessed. ¡°It¡¯s the only

explanation we have. You might want to try changing the dream
and see what happens.¡±

¡°How do I do that? I¡¯m sleeping, remember.¡±

¡°You¡¯ll have to figure that out on your own Harry.¡± Hermione

looked apologetic. ¡°I can¡¯t dream for you, you know.¡±
¡°Yeah I know.¡± Harry fought the urge to bang his head on the
table. ¡°I¡¯m just sick of it. Every morning it gets worse.¡±

¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll come up with something, Harry.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry took a few days to think of something, and in fact he didn¡¯t
really think of it to be truthful. The solution came about because of
a fight that occurred between himself and Draco after dinner on
Sunday. It had been about the DA.

¡°Look Potter, I do not want to spend my free time sitting around

watching to make sure you don¡¯t mess up and get hurt,¡± Draco
snapped.

¡°Malfoy, it¡¯s called commitment, even though I¡¯m sure that¡¯s

too big a word for you to understand. It¡¯s where people actually
do what they promised to do.¡±

Draco leveled a glare in Harry¡¯s direction. ¡°I never made such a

promise, Potter, you did. You live with the consequences of your
own actions.¡±

¡°Selfish bastard,¡± Harry had muttered, storming out of the room.

Unbeknown to him, Draco had watched him go, trying to figure
out why he was feeling the strange emotion he was feeling about
making Potter so angry. It hadn¡¯t mattered before...

Harry had gone to the scheduled DA meeting anyway, although he

had made sure not to participate in the duel. He¡¯d then avoided
going back to his and Draco¡¯s rooms, by taking a very long and
time consuming walk down to the lake. He¡¯d wanted to take up
time and it had worked. It was after midnight when he finally
turned from the lake¡¯s murky waters and walked back up to the
castle, roused Medusa from her sleep (she had not been pleased,
the snakes of her hair muttering obscenities in Parseltongue), and
been faced with the decision to walk into the bedroom or sleep on
the couch. Harry had chosen the latter, his last waking thought
being that if he did end up sleeping in the same bed as Draco by
morning, he would not be responsible for his actions.

His dreams had been empty. No Voldemort, but no nice comfort

feelings either. It was rather freaky for sleep to be that empty, but
when Harry woke on the couch the next morning, that emptiness
was a small price to pay in his mind. He¡¯d been out of the room
by the time Draco had woken up in his own bed, feeling quite
happy even though it was Monday and he had Potions first thing.

¡°You look really happy this morning,¡± Hermione commented as

Harry sat down next to Ron.

¡°I figured it out,¡± Harry replied.

¡°Really?¡±

¡°Yup. I just need to fall asleep being really mad at Malfoy.¡±

¡°That shouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡± Ron grinned.

Hermione looked thoughtful but didn¡¯t say anything, especially

when Malfoy entered the Great Hall half an hour later, shooting a
deadly glare at Harry¡¯s back as he did so. Pushing that idea out of
her mind for the moment, Hermione tuned back into the
conversation that was happening around her about Quidditch, and
the fact that the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match, which had been
postponed, was going to be held next Friday.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday evening came quickly for all of the school, who were all
waiting eagerly for the first match between Harry Potter and the
Veriae, Draco Malfoy. Well, everyone except Draco himself, who
appeared to be a disaster just waiting for a reason to explode upon
someone. He still acted the same yet his entire persona seemed to
scream ¡°stay away from me or you WILL get hurt¡± and no one
knew exactly why... except for three Gryffindors, two of which
were too wrapped up in the upcoming Quidditch match to figure it
out. Hermione however, noticed that while Draco seemed to glow
with anger, Harry seemed happier than he¡¯d been in a long time
yet drained. He was perfectly healthy, yet he still seemed to be
strained even if he himself didn¡¯t realize it. And every night
before he went to sleep he thought of all the reasons why he hated
Draco Malfoy and woke up in his own bed every morning. But it
was on Thursday night that she noticed a distinct change, even if
she was not present at the event that triggered it.

Draco Malfoy was, however. He was holed up in the library

attempting to find the peace he needed to finish the recently
assigned History of Magic essay on the effects of the reign of Lord
Borthord the First in Albania when he was approached by one of
his year-mates, Blaise Zabini.

¡°Zabini, you¡¯re blocking my light,¡± Draco informed him curtly

and Blaise seemed to twitch at the tone of violence which Draco
had so casually spewed out.

¡°Draco, I have been drafted into giving this to you,¡± he said

resignedly, holding out a folded parchment of paper. Draco raised
an eyebrow suspiciously as he took it. Blaise continued speaking,
however, so he did not open it.

¡°I told them it was a stupid idea and you¡¯d have them hung for it,
and that if Snape didn¡¯t care then it wasn¡¯t an issue, but they
went and did it anyway... so when you decide to kill them,
remember I¡¯m just the messenger.¡±

¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡± Draco asked, annoyance
showing slightly through the tint of anger.

¡°Just read it, Draco, you¡¯ll understand.¡±

Draco looked down at the parchment and before he had even

opened it, Blaise Zabini had left his area of the library. But when
Draco did open the parchment, he would have completely agreed
with Blaise¡¯s logic if he had not been so enraged at what was
written there.

Malfoy, by what is written in rule 52 of the rules pertaining to

Quidditch, no magical creature may participate in the sport when
an unfair advantage is given to one team over another because of
certain characteristics that creature may possess. Your wings fall
into that category, so please note that you will not be able to
remain a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team from the day
you receive this onward.

And underneath were the signatures of the entire Slytherin team.

Draco saw bloody red.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was startled out of the slight doze that the History of Magic
homework had put him into by the Medusa portrait slamming open
and a very irate Draco Malfoy stalking into the room, past Harry,
and into their bedroom where Harry heard him dump all his books
on his bed.
¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Harry asked as Draco emerged from
that room.
His response was a snarl, and Draco thrust a piece of parchment at
him before continuing through the room.

¡°I¡¯m going to commit murder,¡± Draco hissed through clenched

teeth and Harry jumped slightly as the portrait swung shut with a
slam behind him.

Frowning, Harry looked down at the letter. As he read it, he

wondered vaguely which Ravenclaw the Slytherins had made write
this because there was no way they would be able to sound so
knowledgeable, but then the full implications of the letter hit him
and he almost ripped the letter in two. It was disgusting. If they did
any research whatsoever, they would know that Draco¡¯s wings
couldn¡¯t support him in flight yet. If they wanted to invoke
whatever rule that was, they would have a point if they mentioned
how Draco was now in tune with the magical currents around him
and that would aid him in finding the snitch; but this was just an
excuse, and a bad one at that, to kick Draco off the Slytherin team.

He knew that Draco would likely be intercepted by someone

before he actually committed the murder that he wanted to commit
tonight, so he wasn¡¯t too worried about the overall health of the
Slytherin team for the next day¡¯s match. Yet, something was still
wrong about this, and he didn¡¯t know quite how to deal with it.
As much as he hated to admit it, Draco had been his biggest
competition in Quidditch, and sometimes his only competition.
And Harry had been looking forward to testing his own skill
against Draco¡¯s full skills, which included those of the Veriae. So
the Slytherin team had denied not only Draco what he wanted,
they¡¯d denied Harry what Harry had wanted. Something would
have to be done about that. So, letter in hand, Harry headed for the
Gryffindor Common Room. He needed to talk to the Gryffindor
Quidditch captain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco had fallen asleep long after Harry on Thursday night, and
was therefore not surprised to wake up on Friday morning long
after Harry did. He was surprised at the warmth of his bed,
however. Draco¡¯s own body heat didn¡¯t tend to warm up that
much surface area of the bed... but he shrugged it off. Potter had
been doing so well at denying the Veriae bond for the rest of the
week, Draco doubted he would let it slip once he knew how to shut
it out. And today was Friday... the same Friday of the Gryffindor
vs. Slytherin match that he¡¯d been excluded from. Draco felt
irritation at this, but much more at the fact that Snape had been
practically waiting to intercept him before he¡¯d gotten to the
Slytherin Common Room. Murder wasn¡¯t looked well upon after
all. The only consolation Snape could offer Draco was that he¡¯d
had no say in what the Slytherin team had done, so it was
perceivable that Draco could talk his teammates into voting him
back on the team at a later date if he so wished.
And that brought him back to the match this afternoon. Looking
over at the clock, he was informed that it was two minutes after
twelve right now. Well that is what happens when one goes to
sleep at five in the morning, he thought. And since he¡¯d already
skipped his morning classes, Draco pulled the covers over his eyes
to shut out any light in the room and promptly went back to sleep.

A few hours later, Draco was thrust back into reality by the sudden
absence of the warmth that those covers provided, and he opened
his eyes fully intending to blast anyone who dared wake him up
like that across the room. But when he looked up and was met with
eyes identical to his own he resisted that thought. His father sat
down on the foot of Draco¡¯s bed and was silent for a few seconds
before he spoke.

¡°I suppose you would rather be sleeping than hexing your

teammates from the stands. That was a very mature choice.¡±
Draco decided not to point out that he hadn¡¯t even considered
hexing his former teammates from the stands and that had he
thought of that he would have gone through with it. He¡¯d just
been tired.

¡°It was an interesting game,¡± Lucius continued. ¡°Gryffindor

won.¡±

¡°I wonder why.¡±

¡°But Slytherin caught the Snitch.¡±

Draco¡¯s head shot up. ¡°What!¡±

Lucius was smiling ironically. ¡°Harry Potter refused to play

against the Slytherin team. Gryffindor only won by ten points. I
thought you would want to know.¡±

And with that, Draco¡¯s father walked out of the room and Draco
could hear him bidding Medusa good day a few seconds later.

Draco frowned. What had gotten into Potter? Normally nothing

would stop him from a game, yet he refused to play this morning.
He was going to have a long talk with Potter the next time he saw
him.

Chapter Fourteen: Sidestepping the Question

Draco had showered and eaten breakfast (or lunch if one was being
completely accurate) before he encountered Harry. Well, in all
truth, Draco had showered, eaten, finished the homework he had
been putting off for some time about how one defends oneself
from a creature that could only be described by its looks as a puff
ball, and started dozing off at the lateness of the day before Harry
showed up. Most of this was forgotten in the next chain of events,
but later Draco would remember that they did happen.

However, later Draco would not be able to work out why the next
chain of events happened, except to say that he was losing his
mind due to the bond that was now present between himself and
Harry. He started out in control of the situation, he really did, when
Harry walked in cursing at Medusa who had not been happy to see
that he was still breathing.

¡°Potter.¡±

¡°Malfoy.¡±

¡°Interesting Quidditch game, I hear.¡±

¡°Nice bunch of friends you have,¡± Harry replied in an almost

amicable tone as he sat down on the leather couch opposite Draco.

¡°There is a rather large difference between those in Slytherin who

are privileged enough to be my comrades, and those who merely
fear me.¡±

¡°I couldn¡¯t tell,¡± Harry replied sarcastically.

Draco glared at him. ¡°The difference, since you¡¯re obviously too

thick to get it, is that my friends would not have done what that
group of morons did. They never respected me in the same way.¡±

¡°Considering you bought your way on to the team, I¡¯m not

surprised,¡± Harry noted and Draco chose to ignore him.

¡°They are part of the division in Slytherin that chooses to ignore

the power of the Veriae and instead focus on the fact that I do not
have wizarding blood.¡±
¡°You know,¡± Harry grinned, ¡°I was thinking about that. It¡¯s
rather ironic that the pureblooded Malfoy family isn¡¯t as pure as
people thought.¡±

¡°I am pureblooded,¡± Draco hissed.

Harry decided never to bring up the subject again as the look of

fury swept across Draco¡¯s face. ¡°Not in wizard blood, and that is
what causes the division.¡±

¡°Exactly.¡± Draco calmed down and Harry looked at him

strangely.

¡°What¡¯s up with you?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°You¡¯re wound up

tighter than a spring.¡±

¡°I thought you would understand why better than anyone,

Potter,¡± Draco drawled. ¡°After all, you are to blame for my
emotions at this point.¡±

¡°Me?¡±

¡°Yes, you. Which brings me to a question which I¡¯d like

answered. Why didn¡¯t you play today?¡±

¡°There wasn¡¯t a point.¡±

¡°There¡¯s always a point, Potter. Gryffindor barely won. What

really stopped you from playing?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t think I need to tell you that, Malfoy.¡± Harry glared at
him and the words were out before Draco could even register that
he was saying them.
¡°Was it because Potter cared that little me wasn¡¯t playing? I¡¯m
flattered.¡±

¡°Don¡¯t be, Malfoy. You had nothing to do with it.¡±

Draco blinked as he saw something strange register in Harry¡¯s

eyes as he said that, and the Slytherin side of him got another idea.
He smirked at Harry, his features shifting to those of someone who
has figured out a secret.

¡°I think you¡¯re lying, Potter. I think it was because of me that

you didn¡¯t play.¡± Something in the bond¡¯s magic stirred inside
him at those words, but he ignored it. It had been acting weird for
all the time Potter had been denying it anyway. But this was too
good to start worrying about something else right now. Watching
Potter squirm was so much fun.

But Draco hadn¡¯t been prepared for what might happen if Harry
didn¡¯t squirm like he¡¯d planned for.

¡°Maybe that¡¯s because I actually care about what others feel

sometimes, Malfoy.¡± Harry sent a glare his way before getting up
with the intent of leaving the room.

Harry started to walk away but was stopped and spun around so
that he was eye to eye with an affronted Veriae. He barely had time
to register the black silken wings that had ripped holes in the back
of another of Draco¡¯s shirts, before he was brought back to the
swirling silver eyes.

¡°Don¡¯t ever assume things you do not understand, Potter,¡±

Draco hissed, releasing his hold on Harry¡¯s shirt slightly. He
started slightly, realizing that there would be a problem, as he felt
the bond-which had been stretched out of proportion by Harry¡¯s
denial of it-contract happily right as his mouth crashed onto
Harry¡¯s own.

Power shot through them, joyfully dancing through their veins as it

resettled both itself and the bond that had been forged by their first
kiss. Its power coursed through them and seemed to take on a life
of its own as two tongues entwined around each other like living
snakes.

It ended abruptly as Draco pushed Harry away from him.

¡°What was that?¡± Harry gasped.

¡°The bond just resorted itself,¡± Draco breathed. ¡°You had it so

out of proportion it went a little overboard. Now, if you will excuse
me, I have to go wash your taste out of my mouth.¡±

Harry watched Draco leave, one hand rising to touch where the
magic had connected them for a moment.

I wasn¡¯t supposed to enjoy that... was I?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry woke the next morning to a rather slurred: ¡°Potter, kindly
remove your hair from my mouth,¡± so he couldn¡¯t say that his
day started off in the best of ways. And then the thoughts of that
kiss or whatever it was the night before came crawling into the
back of his mind. The worst part was that he¡¯d enjoyed it, and
there was no way to rationalize it this time. It wasn¡¯t just a kiss
that had been done well. No, Harry Potter had enjoyed a kiss with
Draco Malfoy. Bond-prompted or not, bond-enhanced or not, there
was no way around it. But what did that mean? Harry could still
very easily hate Draco. In fact they¡¯d yelled at each other that
morning. But he couldn¡¯t deny that whatever that kiss was, it had
definitely turned him on. That could just be teenage hormones
though... but the last time could have been teenage hormones as
well and he had not reacted in the same way.
And then half way through his afternoon class he got a thought.
Maybe it was just the bond resettling itself that had affected him
that way. Yeah. That would make sense. But the only way to test it
would be to kiss Draco again... and exactly when had he decided to
call Malfoy ¡°Draco¡±? Oh well, back on thought. The only way to
confirm anything would be to kiss Draco Malfoy. But how could
he do that without starting another problem? Like Draco actually
thinking that Harry might like him, or maybe the bond would go
crazy because of it.

But the question persisted in his mind throughout the day. In fact,
it persisted in the minds of both boys though neither admitted it to
the other. And yet the only way for either of them to work anything
out would be for them to kiss again, right?
Wrong. But it took them another week to find that out.

Chapter Fifteen: Problems with Magical Currents

Draco woke to find himself in a rather strange position on his bed,
strange because he wasn¡¯t sure why he was still on his bed to
begin with, seeing how most of him was in fact draped over the
right side of it. Yet for some reason he remained in this position
instead of toppling to the floor as gravity dictated he should. It was
while he was pondering this that he became aware of the fact that
his arm was rather numb... his left arm had almost no feeling in it...
was that healthy? Draco attempted to defy gravity a bit more by
craning his neck over the top of the bed in order to see why his arm
was in that condition. His eyes widened slightly as the reason
trickled into his brain, but then the other person in the bed shifted,
loosening their grip on his arm... and gravity did the rest.
Harry Potter woke to a dull thud and then a sullen ¡°Ow¡±.
Frowning, he blinked twice and registered where he was. In
Draco¡¯s bed... again. But there was no sign of Draco himself.
He¡¯d ended up not being able to hate Draco enough before bed
every night this week, so this was not a rare occurrence. Harry
blamed those confusing feelings he got whenever he thought about
the blond in any abstract or fleeting form. They were really starting
to bother him.

Another thing was bothering Harry... well two things were

bothering Harry. One was the strange taste he had in his mouth and
the other being the blanket of black silk that seemed to be covering
everything.

¡°Oh damn,¡± Draco muttered from the floor as he too registered

the black silk feathers covering the floor. ¡°Molting night again.¡±

¡°Molting?¡± Harry leaned over the bed. ¡°Why are you on the
floor anyway?¡±

¡°I fell.¡± Draco got up rather stiffly and brushed a few black
feathers off him. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I had that many feathers to begin
with.¡± He seemed mildly impressed.

Harry dropped out of Draco¡¯s bed on the other side and brushed
off the black feathers covering him as well. But what was that taste
in the back of his mouth? With one finger he traced the back of his
tongue and managed to dislodge... a feather.

¡°Should I even ask how a feather got in my mouth?¡± Harry

muttered.

Draco looked mildly disgusted. ¡°That would be a no.¡±

Harry didn¡¯t respond to Draco¡¯s answer, in fact he hadn¡¯t even
looked at Draco after that first time this morning. Seeing Draco
was still too confusing... or brought up confusing thoughts. And it
was too early in the morning to deal with confusing issues.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry made his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast to find
that, for once, he had arrived before Ron and Hermione. He was
halfway through his second piece of toast when the two arrived.

¡°Oh, Harry, you should have told us you were going to be here
early.¡± Hermione told him as they sat down.

¡°Mate, are you feeling okay? It¡¯s a Sunday; one sleeps in late on
Sundays.¡± Ron reminded him, oblivious to the look of
exasperation Hermione sent his way.

Other students began to filter in to breakfast, but Harry noted that

there was no sign of Draco. That was rather odd. Draco was
normally at breakfast around this time every day of the week. But
pushing the thought out of his mind, he returned to the
conversation that was happening around him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The House-Elves, Draco thought, could be really annoying. The
little buggers had been in his bedroom when he¡¯d emerged from
his shower, picking up feathers. They refused to leave, even to
allow him privacy to get some clothing on, until they were
finished. Draco almost informed them of how much time they were
wasting. It was much easier for the Veriae himself to pick up his
own feathers. They were still keyed to him after all. So if anyone
else tried to do so, as the House-Elves were doing... well, it took a
long time. So Draco started working on breaking the record for
longest time wearing nothing but a towel.

When they were finally done and out of his room, Draco set about
getting on some proper clothing and then pondered what to do
about the rest of his day. Schoolwork eventually won over, because
tomorrow was Monday, and he could always count on his
godfather to assign some long essay (which he had finished and in
truth had enjoyed doing) so he might as well finish the homework
he needed to hand in on Tuesday. Arithmancy. Draco¡¯s eyes
scanned the topic of the essay, and he immediately resolved to just
look up the answer in a book instead of doing the extra work to
figure it out. That was the problem with Arithmancy. During his
first years taking it, he¡¯d actually done the work of figuring out
the answer to the essays himself, then he¡¯d realized they were all
in the book, just not in the chapter the class was currently studying.

Now where was that book? Let¡¯s see. The last time he¡¯d used it,
he was doing those analogy things (stupid teacher was in love with
analogies, he was certain). He¡¯d been pretty ticked by the time
he¡¯d finished the last one (out of one hundred), so he probably put
the book someplace out of the way with the help of the magical
currents that drifted through Hogwarts. This, of course, meant that
he had no clue where it was now. For all he knew, he had banished
it to the fourth floor corridor and Merlin knew who might have
found it. But as he cast his eyes around the room he saw that this
was not the case. It was just balanced on the top of his
bookshelves... which were about twice as tall as Draco himself
was.

Oh, wouldn¡¯t this be fun. Draco looked at the book as he sensed

around for any currents that might be nearby. That was the thing
when one was down near the dungeon inside a building like
Hogwarts, one couldn¡¯t rely on the nature currents, where as
outside they were everywhere and anywhere. No, inside, one had
to rely on the currents that came from those who were using magic
at the moment in time or from older spells that were entombed in
the rock walls of the castle. And, as the Hogwarts stairs proved,
these were rather temperamental. So, of course, there were no
magical currents for Draco to find and call to his aid when he
wanted them.

So Draco did what any self-respecting teenager would do. He

glared at the bookshelves and the Arithmancy book as if it was all
their fault.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°So Harry,¡± Ron asked as they finished breakfast. ¡°Have you
finished your essay yet?¡±
¡°Haven¡¯t even started,¡± Harry answered easily.

¡°Same here.¡±

¡°What? It was assigned last Monday!¡± Hermione yelped as she

tried to comprehend what must have been going through their
minds all week to not at least start on the essay.

¡°So?¡± Ron asked. ¡°Just because it was assigned doesn¡¯t mean

we would do it on Monday.¡±

Harry nodded. ¡°We have today to do it, Hermione. It¡¯s not the
end of the world.¡±

Hermione just shook her head at the lack of responsibility those

two had when it came to school. Quidditch was a whole other
story, but when it came to school work... just forget about planning
for anything. ¡°Well, then you two should go get started on it,¡±
she told them.
¡°Will you help us?¡± Ron asked.

¡°Absolutely not. You had an entire week to do it.¡±

Ron frowned. ¡°Okay then. Shall we just get this over with,
Harry?¡±

¡°Sure. I have to go get my book though.¡±

¡°Then I will meet you two in the library,¡± Hermione said and
took another stairway towards the library¡¯s corridor.

¡°You can come with if you want,¡± Harry said. ¡°I¡¯m sure
Malfoy has cleared out by now.¡±

Ron nodded and the two set off down another stairway.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry decided that Medusa was never happy to see him. Even
when he told her the password she wouldn¡¯t open the door until
she¡¯d given him a proper lecture on how he should take care to be
nicer to her, more polite... like little Master Malfoy who was
always inquiring after her health and asking if she was having a
good day. It didn¡¯t help that Ron muttered why one would ask
after the health of a painting because it couldn¡¯t get sick, so it was
a full five minutes before she begrudgingly let them into the
rooms.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, Draco thought, the bookshelves looked rather stable. And he
would only have to climb up a little bit... Damn, why couldn¡¯t he
have thought to put a chair in his bedroom when he was fixing up
his rooms?
But Draco, nevertheless, began to climb the bookshelf.(vi) It was a
good thing that all the books were pushed against the back of the
shelf, or he didn¡¯t think he be able to hold on. It really wasn¡¯t
that much to climb. Draco had been right in his assessment; and he
had just reached the top and his Arithmancy book when the door to
his bedroom opened. He didn¡¯t notice, as he¡¯d made sure that all
the hinges on the doors in his rooms were silent (he hated squeaky
doors). Draco reached for the book, leaning slightly to the left.
He¡¯d just grabbed the binding of the book and was pulling it away
from the edge of the shelf when he slipped.

He braced for the impact of flesh on stone... but it never came.

Instead he collided on to something hard yet soft at the same time.
Someone else had to worry about bracing for the flesh on stone
impact.

¡°What in Merlin¡¯s name were you doing?¡± a voice raged in his

ear.

¡°Getting a book,¡± Draco answered easily, and then he realized

what position he was in... and who he was on.

Harry also realized what a weird position the two of them were in.
If Draco shifted slightly to the right he would be flat out on top of
Harry, stomach to stomach, face to face, mouth to...

Draco moved slightly to the right in order to start getting off Harry
but froze when he realized what position he¡¯d put them in. Just
inches away from Harry, he could feel Harry¡¯s breath on his face,
and could look directly into the emerald orbs of his eyes.

Neither would ever remember who moved first, but someone did,
closing the inches between them, lips coming together as if drawn
together by polar attraction. Satin caressing silk, someone moaned.
Mouths open, tongues twisting together in a sensual dance. Time
seemed to stand still. Aristocratic hands found their way around his
slim waist as other hands buried themselves in silken hair. Draco
purred. Harry hissed in pleasure.

Ron, walking through the door, was speaking, not that anyone
really heard him. ¡°Oi, Harry, how much time does it take to- OH
MERLIN! MY EYES!¡±

Two pairs of eyes drifted upwards towards a very scandalized

redhead. The green ones were apologetic, the silver-grey annoyed.

¡°Sorry Ron?¡± Harry¡¯s statement was more of a question.

¡°Weasley, what the bloody hell are you doing in my bedroom!¡±

Draco growled.

¡°Well I came in here to see how long it was going to take Harry to
get his book, but I see instead he was otherwise occupied,¡± Ron
shot back.

¡°Then you can walk back out, can¡¯t you?¡± Draco sneered. ¡°I
don¡¯t want you in my personal space.¡±

¡°The only one in your ¡®personal space¡¯ right now is Harry,

Malfoy, and you don¡¯t look too upset about that.¡±

And while Draco and Ron bantered back and forth, with Draco still
on top of Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived was trying to find a way to
keep the blush off his face while simultaneously trying not to be
turned on too much by the velvet quality of Draco¡¯s voice which
became prominent when he was angry.

Chapter Sixteen: Foundations Crumble

Harry and Ron had finally gotten to the library, after the whole
event in Draco and Harry¡¯s rooms, andHarry was just starting his
Potions essay(at three in the afternoon on the day before it was
due) when Ron finally got up the nerve to speak what had been on
his mind for half an hour before this point, to Harry. Harry blinked
at him, disbelief clearly written across his features.

¡°Ron, you have got to be kidding. Did you eat something that
Fred or George sent you? You know that it¡¯s an ¡°at best¡±
situation if Dr-Malfoy and I hate each other.¡±

Ron chose to ignore Harry¡¯s slip-up when he¡¯d said Malfoy¡¯s

name and just looked at his friend skeptically. ¡°I don¡¯t know
how things looked from your end, mate, but all I¡¯m telling you is
that it didn¡¯t look like you two hated each other from where I was
standing. That¡¯s all. Just forget I said it, okay? I¡¯m certainly
going to forget I saw it.¡± Ron looked slightly disgusted as he tried
not to remember it.

Of course, after hearing that kind of a statement from Ron of all

people, Harry couldn¡¯t concentrate on Potions (a class he had
with Draco). So, in the politest way he could with his mind on
other things, he left his friends in the library and went in search of
his Firebolt to go flying and clear his head.

Hermione watched him go with a puzzled expression and turned to

Ron the second Harry had disappeared out the door. ¡°What
happened?¡± she asked in a hushed whisper.

Ron almost sighed at the prospect of having to relive that scene yet
again, but began to tell her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Down in the dungeons, Draco was just finishing explaining what
had happened to his father, who (if he had been looking, which by
the way he wasn¡¯t) looked mildly amused at his son¡¯s plight.

¡°Draco, for the last time, the bond does not do anything to your
emotions. It does not magnify nor create anything for you except
power. It stays away from matters of feeling.¡±

¡°Then why did I have to kiss him in the first place?¡±

¡°Merely tradition. Normally the two intended are rather attracted

to one another; therefore the bond came to be activated by kissing.
Nothing more, nothing less. When Potter tried to defy the bond, it
retaliated by beginning to retract itself in an effort to stabilize
itself, thus more kissing.¡± He took a long sip of port. ¡°When it
comes right down to it, Draco, the fault rests completely with the
two of you.¡±

¡°It¡¯s not my fault,¡± Draco muttered below his breath and his
father chose to ignore that statement. Then he thought of
something. ¡°What in Merlin¡¯s name am I going to say to him?¡±

Lucius raised an eyebrow. ¡°Say, Draco? You don¡¯t have to say

anything. I would recommend being civil, but in reality you don¡¯t
need to do a thing. Your part as a Veriae is done and over with.
Unless your bonded gets in trouble you could ignore his very
existence.¡±

¡°I know that, but it¡¯s just a bit awkward,¡± Draco responded.

¡°Then be civil. Or, if you¡¯re feeling adventurous, try being

agreeable. You might enjoy the results.¡± The sarcasm was lost on
Draco, who actually thought about the idea.

¡°I tried being agreeable in First Year, and that didn¡¯t work.¡±
Again Lucius found solace in his wine glass before speaking.
¡°Draco, you are a Slytherin and Malfoy, he doesn¡¯t need to know
that it¡¯s you being agreeable.¡±

Draco thought about that some more, and Lucius found himself
thanking whatever deity was ruling the world that Draco was an
only child. Lucius didn¡¯t think he could handle another one.
Finally breaking the silence, Lucius spoke.

¡°I will be remaining at the Manor after Christmas break; it appears

that I seem innocent enough at this point to the Ministry.¡±

Draco bit back a grin at the drawled statement. He had problems

picturing his father as ¡°innocent¡± in any definition of the word,
but then again he knew things that the Ministry did not.

Lucius watched his son carefully, but Draco didn¡¯t seem to latch
on to the fact that if he, Draco, was going to go home to the Manor
for Christmas break with his father... then Harry would have to go
as well. Lucius idly wondered if he¡¯d been as this unobservant at
Draco¡¯s age... and decided against it. He¡¯d give Draco a week to
work it out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a few hours later when Draco finally left the comfort of his
father¡¯s rooms and began the trek back to his side of the dungeons
(¡®his¡¯ because that was where his rooms were... Potter was just
borrowing some space for the time being, they really were his). He
was a bit relieved to see that Potter wasn¡¯t back yet. Hopefully he
wouldn¡¯t be back until after Draco had already fallen asleep and
therefore the two could avoid any sort of a confrontation about that
afternoon.
On his way to his own bed, he passed Potter¡¯s and noticed that the
other boy¡¯s books seemed to have been discarded in a pile on the
bed and that Potter¡¯s Firebolt was missing. The boy was out
flying... at this time of day... err, night. He was crazy. Draco
frowned, seeing the Potions textbook on the top of the pile. Harry
had probably not even started the essay. Unbidden, his father¡¯s
words came back into his mind. Be agreeable... if he was feeling
adventurous. Well, he was most definitely not feeling very
adventurous at this moment in time... but...

With determination, he took out his own assignment (which was

twice as long as it needed to be... he¡¯d gotten a little carried away
with this one) and began to write. This would be rather interesting
actually, as he would have to duplicate Harry¡¯s style of writing so
as not to raise his godfather¡¯s suspicions. Then he¡¯d have to
place a few forgery spells on his writing so that it would look like
Harry¡¯s... he¡¯d be done in a half hour or so.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry came in from flying long after it was too dark to see, not
feeling much better than when he¡¯d gone out. Sure, the joy of
flying itself was still there... his head just wasn¡¯t very clear, even
given the entire afternoon to think.

There was something strange going on between himself and Draco

but Harry couldn¡¯t pinpoint exactly what it was. He¡¯d ruled out
love right away; that was most assuredly not the answer. Lust...
maybe, but unlikely. Sure, he enjoyed Draco¡¯s kissing but he
could just as easily want to break a bone or hex him. Attraction...
even less likely; there were too many things about Draco¡¯s
personality that Harry found unattractive for it to be that.
Friendship? Hmm, there was some grey area. They weren¡¯t
friends... but he didn¡¯t really mind Draco¡¯s presence any more as
long as the other boy wasn¡¯t trying to annoy him. Acceptance,
maybe? He was getting used to being around Draco? It was all too
confusing. At least, having stayed out this late, Draco would either
be showering or in bed and they could avoid talking about it... if
Draco would talk about it at all. Harry had no idea how that
Slytherin¡¯s mind worked. Maybe it was just a Veriae thing and he
was reading too far into it... then again maybe not... and here the
circle of thought started over and over again.

Harry entered the bedroom as quietly as he could, and then relaxed

slightly at hearing the shower running. He shook his head... that
was, what... Draco¡¯s third shower today? Yes, he would never
understand how that Slytherin¡¯s mind worked.

Then all thoughts of that Slytherin were replaced by different

thoughts. Oh bloody hell... Potions. He¡¯d completely forgotten to
do the essay. Damn it. Harry groaned slightly imagining the
detention he¡¯d get for this. But then he stopped short in his mental
rant.

Sitting there inside the cover of his potions book... was an essay.
His essay... or at least that was his writing. But he hadn¡¯t written
the essay, of that he was sure. Harry looked towards the bathroom
door with shock appearing on his face. No way... but there was no
other explanation. Hermione might have done the essay for him,
but then it would be in her handwriting and he¡¯d have to recopy
it... and she didn¡¯t know where his room was to deliver it. Ron
did know where his room was, but neither of them would get past
Medusa (especially if Harry ¨C who did have the password ¨C had
trouble doing so). So the only one left was... Draco. And one
would have to use some type of forgery spell to write in his own
handwriting.

Harry began skimming the lines of the essay as the shower turned
off. It was really good. A bit better and more detailed than he
would normally be but Snape wouldn¡¯t really notice. He
couldn¡¯t see a flaw anywhere that would key someone into
thinking that Harry himself hadn¡¯t done the work.

Draco came out of the bathroom dressed in his favorite pair of

pajamas (black silk) to be immediately hit with the full force of
Harry¡¯s best smile. He blinked slightly and stopped his mind from
going down the path of ¡°he looks really cute when he smiles¡±.
One eyebrow rising in question, even as he saw the essay in
Harry¡¯s hands he asked:

¡°What are you grinning about?¡±

¡°Thank you, Draco,¡± was all Harry said as he began clearing the
books off his bed.

¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Draco replied as he

climbed in his own bed.

Harry shook his head, though he knew Draco wouldn¡¯t see it, but
couldn¡¯t help the thought that passed through his head: ¡®Typical
Draco. Even when he does something nice he has to be aloof about
it.¡¯

When he woke up the next day, Harry would ponder that thought
and wonder what that meant. He would eventually arrive at the
conclusion that he no longer loathed one Draco Malfoy. Got
annoyed at often, yes, but he no longer hated him. He¡¯d become
used to being around Draco... what a scary thought.

Chapter Seventeen: Lighting the Fuse

In the weeks that followed, as late November became early

December, Harry found himself watching Draco more closely. He
was¡- intrigued by Draco, that was it. He wasn¡¯t developing any
feelings other than interest¡- or so he told himself. He wanted to
figure out just how the blonde¡¯s mind worked. One minute Draco
would be as horrible as he normally was, and then he¡¯d turn
around and actually be civil or worse, agreeable. And when he was
either of those two things (civil or agreeable) Harry was forced to
admit to himself that he enjoyed the blonde¡¯s company
immensely.

So he took up Draco-watching. It therefore became¡- almost

unfortunate, that he only shared three classes with Draco: Potions,
Care of Magical Creatures, and Transfiguration. Although it did
give him a wide base of subjects really: one of his better, one of
Draco¡¯s worst ¨C Care of Magical Creatures; one of Draco¡¯s
best, his worst ¨C Potions; and a class that was somewhere in-
between - Transfiguration. As such, he¡¯d been mildly and
pleasantly surprised when, after a particularly nasty assignment
from Transfiguration class, he¡¯d begun ranting about it, not caring
that Draco was in the room, Draco had joined him. About fifteen
minutes later he realized that those were probably the most
enjoyable fifteen minutes he¡¯d shared with Draco for the entire
amount of time that he¡¯d known him.

Of course, his two best friends noticed his strange new habit, even
though one tried his best to ignore it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Hermione, I¡¯m telling you, nothing is going on between Harry
and Malfoy,¡± Ron muttered from his chair in the otherwise empty
Gryffindor Common Room. ¡°You¡¯re just imagining things.¡±

¡°Ron, you are refusing to see the facts. Harry won¡¯t even start
eating until he¡¯s watched Malfoy sit down on the other side of the
Great Hall; that¡¯s not normal Harry-hates-Malfoy behavior. You
caught them kissing once, you shouldn¡¯t be this blind.¡±
¡°Why not?¡± It did, after all, sit perfectly well with Ron to be this
blind.

¡°Ron, just think for a moment. Harry is our best friend. What if
he¡¯s falling in love with Malfoy (Ron winced) and Malfoy
doesn¡¯t get it? Harry could be seriously emotionally scarred if
something doesn¡¯t happen.¡±

¡°Hermione, are you sure you¡¯re not overreacting?¡± Ron asked,

remembering how Hermione acted about the House Elves and
seeing the same trend in her behavior now.

¡°You see how Harry acts too; you tell me if I¡¯m overreacting.¡±

¡°You¡¯re overreacting.¡±

Hermione sighed. ¡°Fine then. You just find out the password to
Harry and Malfoy¡¯s room and I¡¯ll do the rest.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°I¡¯m serious.¡±

"You¡¯re crazy.¡±

¡°Ron-¡°

¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll get Harry to tell me so we can meet him there to
study or something.¡±

¡°Good.¡±
Ron shook his head as he watched Hermione walk up the stairs to
the girl¡¯s dormitory. ¡°I tried to make her stay out of it¡-¡± he said
weakly. ¡°No one can say I didn¡¯t try.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco was not amused at this moment in time. No, he was not
pleased at all. And every fibre of his being was directed at making
this known to the being standing in his rooms not three feet away
from him.

¡°And just what do you think you are doing in my rooms?¡± Draco
hissed.

Hermione was rather impressed. No wings had sprouted yet. ¡°Is

Harry here?¡±

¡°No. Get. Out.¡±

¡°Good then.¡± Hermione acted as if she hadn¡¯t heard the other

two words he uttered. ¡°I need to talk to you about Harry.¡±

¡°No you don¡¯t. Goodbye.¡±

¡°Fine then. I¡¯ll talk, you¡¯ll listen, and then I¡¯ll leave.¡±

¡°The door is behind you, please use it.¡±

¡°I won¡¯t leave until you listen.¡±

¡°Mudblood, get out of my rooms!¡±

¡°They¡¯re Harry¡¯s too.¡±

Draco fought to control himself. ¡°You have ten seconds. Talk.¡±

¡°I wanted to talk to you about Harry-¡±

¡°I gathered that.¡±

¡°-And his new behavior.¡±

Draco raised an eyebrow.

¡°I want to know what you feel for Harry.¡±

Draco blinked at her. A voice inside his brain was beginning to

rant about the audacity of some people who would first walk into
rooms that do not belong to them, barring for the minute how she
even got the password in the first place, and would then dare ask
such questions that should not be asked!

Hermione waited for the explosion that she hoped was coming. A
rant, maybe, about how one Draco Malfoy hated one Harry Potter.
But she didn¡¯t get one. All she got was a strained:

¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about Mudblood, now get
out.¡±

With a grin, Hermione left the room. So Harry wasn¡¯t the only
one with these types of feelings. But they were both very much in
denial. Well, desperate times¡-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as Hermione was gone from the room Draco stalked up to
the picture frame. ¡°Medusa, NEVER let her into these rooms
again. And pick a new password that you like. You can tell me
what it is later.¡±
He didn¡¯t bother to really listen to Medusa¡¯s reply as he headed
for the bedroom and his Potions homework. Hopefully that would
get this whole experience out of his head for a while.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione found Harry after dinner. (Again he¡¯d watched Draco
enter the Great Hall and sit down with his fellow Slytherins before
even looking at his own food.) ¡°Harry, I wanted to talk to you.¡±
She said as she caught up with him walking slowly towards the
dungeons.
¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

¡°I wondered how you felt about Draco.¡±

Harry looked rather like Draco did when she¡¯d asked him that
same type of question earlier. ¡°I don¡¯t know-¡°

¡°You pay more attention to him in classes that we share with

Slytherins than on the actual subject. Heck, you watch him walk
into the Great Hall for meals as well. Ron told me about what he
caught you doing. Something¡¯s going on and as your friend I
would like to help.¡±

¡°I really don¡¯t think-¡° He caught the look on Hermione¡¯s face

and inwardly groaned; it was the same type of look he endured
with S.P.E.W. ¡°I really don¡¯t know yet.¡± He said quietly, almost
hoping she wouldn¡¯t hear him.

They reached the portrait, for which Harry was extremely grateful.
He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever been so pleased to see Medusa in his
entire existence. But the portrait wouldn¡¯t open to the password.

Harry groaned and muttered about Draco and changing passwords

without telling him before knocking rather loudly on the picture
frame (while ignoring Medusa¡¯s indignant shrieks) and yelled,
¡°Draco! Make Medusa open up already!¡± He waited a few
seconds before sighing. ¡°He¡¯s probably already in the shower,¡±
he muttered, sitting down next to the portrait to wait.

He caught the look Hermione shot at him. ¡°What?¡±

¡°You know when he showers.¡±

¡°I live with him; one does pick things like that up.¡±

¡°You lived with a few guys in Gryffindor and I bet you couldn¡¯t
tell me their showering times.¡±

Harry opened his mouth to retort but closed it when he realized

that he couldn¡¯t tell her all of that information.

Hermione sat down next to him. ¡°So start talking.¡±

¡°Is there any way I can change the subject?¡±

¡°No.¡±

¡°What if he hears?¡±

¡±You said yourself that he¡¯s in the shower. You tell me how
long those last.¡±

Harry blanched when he realized that he did know how long one of
Draco¡¯s typical showers lasted, and that he also knew how that
time varied with Draco¡¯s moods. Maybe he should talk to
Hermione. She was a girl, and girls were good with these kinds of
things, right?
¡°I keep telling myself that I¡¯m not falling for him, and at times
he makes me so annoyed that I¡¯m sure I¡¯m right. But then he-¡°

¡°Goes and does something that makes you like him.¡±

Harry nodded.

¡°And then that makes you forget about the thing that annoyed
you.¡±

Harry nodded again.

Hermione smiled. ¡°So how well does he kiss?¡±

Again Harry blanched. ¡°Hermione!¡±

¡°Answer the question.¡±

Harry rolled his eyes. ¡°Really well.¡±

¡°Better than Cho?¡±

¡°Yes...¡±

¡±Would you do it again?¡±

¡°¡-Yes¡-¡±

In an almost childish nature, Hermione poked Harry¡¯s shoulder

and said in a sing-song voice. ¡°I know who Harry li-ikes.¡±

¡°And I, for one, am going to forget I just heard this

conversation,¡± an aristocratic drawl spoke from behind them.
Harry paled, realizing that Draco had been standing there for who
knew how long.

Chapter Eighteen: Leaving Egypt

Draco wasn¡¯t surprised when Harry didn¡¯t follow him into their
rooms. Oh Merlin, their rooms. Since when had it become ¡°their¡±
rooms instead of ¡°his¡± rooms? Draco sighed, running his fingers
through still damp hair. ¡°Probably on the same day I fell on top of
him,¡± he muttered into the still room and then paused. ¡°Salazar,
that sounded so wrong.¡±

Draco forced himself to go through the routine of getting ready for

sleep, a process that took hours since he was so particular (the real
reason why he made sure to get all the homework he would do for
a day done before supper), before realizing that Medusa would
have closed the portrait by now, which meant Harry still couldn¡¯t
get in. And there would be no way he could get in until Draco told
Medusa to open it.

¡°Oh well. His fault.¡± Draco shrugged noncommittally even as he

contradicted himself by getting out of bed and sitting down on the
couch with the comforter, which he had unceremoniously pulled
off of his bed, to wait for Harry to bang on the portrait again.
Within ten minutes however, he was sound asleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry brooded, sitting up on the end of Ron¡¯s bed, as his was

currently a few floors down in the dungeons.
¡°Harry, I¡¯ve got to say that brooding about it won¡¯t make the
situation go away, mate,¡± Ron finally said with the air of one
resigned for a long argument.

Harry looked pointedly at him. ¡°Ron, if Draco Malfoy had just

found out that you liked him, what would you do?¡±

¡°I would keel over laughing because I¡¯m not gay,¡± was the stoic
reply.

Harry rolled his eyes. ¡°I should hurt you for that sentence.¡±

¡°But then people would wonder why there were strange sounds
coming from the dormitory and they would have an excuse to
break the locking charm you put on the door. Which, by the way, I
think you should remove so the other boys can get some sleep even
if you are determined to brood away the night hours.¡±

¡°I¡¯m not brooding.¡±

And here they might as well have come full circle.

¡°Look, it¡¯s not that bad, Harry,¡± Ron finally said in the silence.

¡°Explain what¡¯s so ¡®not that bad¡¯ about it, then.¡±

Ron raised his eyes skyward with a thought akin to: What is this
world coming too? I¡¯m about to help my friend who is
emotionally involved with a Malfoy¡-

¡°Well, Malfoy¡¯s a Veriae. It¡¯s not like he can really up and

leave whenever he wants¡-¡±

¡°So I¡¯m stuck with him acting smugly superior and/or disliking
me for the rest of my life. Okay.¡±
Ron groaned. ¡°Look, I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m going to say this
but I¡¯m just going to say what I saw. And I don¡¯t care if it was
the only kiss you two will ever share for the rest of your lives, you
were both participating. Equally, I might add. No matter who says
what, that is a fact.¡±

¡°That was one kiss. It doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±

¡°That was your second kiss though, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Harry winced
internally but he didn¡¯t bother telling Ron it was actually their
third. Ron suddenly looked very serious. ¡°If one kiss was enough
to start this whole Veriae-bond-thing, then I think that it¡¯s a small
thing for a second kiss to show that both parties are attracted to
each other.¡±

Harry thought for a moment. ¡°When did you get so smart?¡±

¡°I can¡¯t believe I just said that,¡± Ron muttered and began
moving to the bathroom.

¡°What are you doing?¡±

¡°I¡¯m going to wash my mouth out with soap for saying such nice
things about Malfoy; it¡¯s got to be against some rule
somewhere.¡±

Harry laughed lightly before getting up, bidding Ron good-night,

and allowing several annoyed Gryffindor boys back into their
dormitory. Oh well, it was a long walk down to the dungeons,
plenty of time to get enough courage to face Draco again, right?
Then again, maybe Draco would be asleep by now¡- then again¡-
Harry remembered that he still didn¡¯t know the password. Oh¡-
damn it all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry watched Medusa watch him disapprovingly. After a few

minutes of this staring contest, he spoke:

¡°So are you going to let me in?¡±

¡°Why should I?¡± Medusa spat. ¡°You don¡¯t know the

password.¡±

¡°Because by now you should know that I live here,¡± Harry

pointed out patiently. ¡°We have this conversation even when I do
know the password so I don¡¯t understand why you can¡¯t just
open up and let me in.¡±

¡°No password, no admittance.¡±

"Stupid bitch.¡± Harry snarled, unaware that it came out in

Parseltongue.

¡°I know what you¡¯re saying,¡± Medusa commented in a bored

tone as the snakes hissed back their own chorus of obscenities at
Harry. ¡°And it just goes to show that you don¡¯t belong here.
Only one of insignificant breeding would use such fowl
language.¡±

Harry groaned. ¡°So you¡¯re going to make Draco annoyed at both

me and you when I bang on your frame loud enough to wake him
in the bedroom?¡± He grasped at the last idea that he had when
dealing with this obnoxious portrait.
¡°You won¡¯t have to bang loudly. He¡¯s asleep on the couch
waiting for you to do so.¡±

Harry could, and would later, swear up and down that Medusa¡¯s
voice took on a completely different tone when talking about
Draco.

¡°So why don¡¯t you just let me in so that I won¡¯t have to wake
him?¡± Harry asked.

The portrait considered this for a moment or two before nodding

her assent. ¡°But you¡¯d better watch out when Draco goes home
for Christmas and it¡¯s just you here. You¡¯ll never get in for the
entire two weeks!¡± She spat at him.

Harry brushed by her and into the room to find that the portrait had
not lied about its sleeping inhabitant. The fire had burned itself to
low embers, casting almost a shadowy glow on the room and upon
the figure sleeping on the couch. Draco was wrapped up in the
comforter that he obviously had taken from his bed, its black
coloring blending with the black silk of Draco¡¯s normal
sleepwear.

Draco¡¯s eyes were closed, of course, as he was sleeping, but his

face seemed to retain that same air of Malfoyishness that it always
held, as if he were some untouchable deity or lord whose level of
perfection mere mortals could never hope to ascend to. The glow
from the fire seemed to sink into his hair and bring out an ethereal
glow from the platinum strands. Harry stood there just watching
Draco sleep, but the serenity of the scene was broken when
Draco¡¯s eyes fluttered open as Medusa closed her portrait rather
loudly.

"She let you in. Surprising.¡±

¡°I¡¯d be careful if I were you, I think Medusa likes you too
much.¡± Harry tried to act normal as he crossed the room to the
doorway to the bedroom.

¡°I¡¯m not too worried.¡± Draco padded into the room after him
and gracefully flopped on his bed (much to Harry¡¯s amazement,
though he hid it, that it was actually possible to flop gracefully).
Draco waited for a few minutes until he was certain that Harry was
assuming that he wouldn¡¯t say anything about the conversation
he¡¯d overheard earlier. Silly Gryffindor, Draco was a Malfoy; of
course he would to say something. ¡°I actually think it¡¯s ironic.¡±

¡°What, that a snake-haired girl likes a Slytherin?¡±

¡°No, I wasn¡¯t thinking of Medusa, although she was ever so

pleased to help make you so embarrassed earlier.

Draco felt Harry stiffen.

¡°Then what¡¯s ironic?¡± Harry¡¯s voice was almost guarded.

In the darkened room Draco smirked, ¡°I find it ironic that you¡¯re
so worried about me rejecting you, when it was you who rejected
me first¡- twice.¡±

Nothing more was said that night. After all, what could one say to
that?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Draco well expected, by saying that particular comment the

night before, Harry made sure to be out of their rooms by the time
Draco woke up the next day and avoided him as much as was
possible, seeing as there were some classes that Gryffindor and
Slytherin had together and he couldn¡¯t well skip those. Draco was
somewhat amused by this behaviour actually, as he was waiting for
the revelation that would come at sometime when Harry realized
how he had worded that sentence.

He was not prepared for Harry to realize a very different thing,

which he brought up during Draco¡¯s Transfiguration essay that
afternoon. Harry walked into the rooms after a few minutes of
bickering with Medusa (Merlin, how fond Draco was getting of the
portrait, maybe Dumbledore would let him buy it for his study
door back home¡-).

¡°What are we going to do about holiday break?¡± Harry said

suddenly, surprising Draco slightly. Where had he come up with
that topic?

¡°I don¡¯t see how this holiday break is going to be any different
from any other,¡± Draco responded, returning to his
Transfiguration essay. His father and he would spend Christmas
Eve doing whatever they felt like doing, then they would open
presents together Christmas Day and his godfather would likely
join them for dinner on Christmas Day as well-

¡°No, I meant about the sleeping thing.¡±

¡°What are you rambling about?¡±

¡°Unless you don¡¯t plan to sleep at all over holiday break, Draco,
we¡¯re going to have to figure something out.¡±

Realizing that he would have to take Harry home for Christmas,

Draco almost missed the fact that Harry had called him by his first
name to his face. Draco had heard Harry refer to him by his first
name before, but never had Harry actually addressed him by
¡°Draco¡± instead of ¡°Malfoy¡±.

¡°Well then, Harry, you will just have to accompany me, won¡¯t
you?¡± The tone left no room for argument but Harry argued
anyway, blushing slightly when he realized that Draco had picked
up on his slip of the tongue.

¡°Aren¡¯t you even going to ask me politely, or are you just going
to be a bastard about it? No, wait, why am I even asking?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know. Why are you?¡±

¡°Because I don¡¯t have to go to your home over holiday break, I

could very easily stay right here in Hogwarts the way I have for the
past five years. And even if you did go home, you¡¯d end up back
in Hogwarts by morning, and you know it.¡±

Draco stopped even trying to work on his essay. Harry did have a
point, a very good one actually.

¡°Very well, then.¡± Draco looked up at Harry for the first time
since the boy had come in the room. ¡°Harry, will you come home
with me for holiday break?¡±

Harry blinked¡- three times. He hadn¡¯t actually expected Draco to

ask him at all.

Draco meanwhile found the astounded look on Harry¡¯s face very

amusing, although he fought down the urge to smirk, laugh, or
look amused as he waited for Harry¡¯s answer.

¡°Okay,¡± Harry said and Draco went back to his essay. ¡°If you
promise to accompany me to D.A. meetings.¡±
Draco stopped working again. Not that stupid D.A. again. But¡-
weigh the options, Christmas at Malfoy Mannor or Christmas at
Hogwarts¡- oh, bloody hell!

¡°Very well. But I can assure you that I will not be participating in
any way and that you will come to regret the idea.¡±

Harry grinned triumphantly and fought back the urge to go and

laugh at Medusa and tell her that she wouldn¡¯t have the pleasure
of kicking him out of their rooms for two weeks because when
Draco left, he would be leaving too. Well, maybe he could shove
that in her face later¡-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco was seriously starting to regret agreeing to go the DA

meetings when he realized that, of course, everyone in this little
club would not likely be too happy with a Slytherin present. They
were not, if the glares being sent his way were worth anything. Of
course, it wasn¡¯t really his problem. He¡¯d made it very clear to
Harry that he was just going to sit in a corner and work on his
Divination homework and that was that. If Harry wanted an
explanation as to why he was there, then Harry would just have to
give one himself; and if Harry got hurt then he would have to walk
over to Draco¡¯s corner because there was no way that Draco
himself was moving until the whole ordeal was over.

And, true to his word, Draco walked over to an unoccupied corner-

that he was quite positive the Room of Requirement was supplying
for him-and proceeded to sit down and take out his homework
without a look at the group of students that were very shocked at
his actions.
¡°Why is Malfoy here?¡± Draco heard one of them ask and
couldn¡¯t help smirking as Harry had to make up an explanation
that didn¡¯t really tell what truly was going on between the two of
them. Draco did not bother to hide his amused expression as they
bought it; something about how all the spells they used upset some
Veriae thing unless he knew what was going on. Oh, he¡¯d have
fun with that one later¡-

Thus, Draco was pretty much ignored for the first part of the D.A.
meeting, when Hermione was explaining the newest spell that they
were working on and Draco was effectively tuning her out. He had
not agreed to listen to her prattle on like a textbook recording; he
had just agreed to be in the room.

Things began to happen when the students started to work with the
new spell. As Draco could have predicted, it wasn¡¯t five minutes
before a spell came at him, whether because the person missed or
because she purposely aimed at him, he didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t
care.

Harry watched as the beam of purple light headed straight for

Draco, as did almost everyone in the room. The very air in the
room seemed to shift slightly and the spell swerved, deflecting to
the ceiling.

¡°Someone should work on the Weaslette¡¯s aim.¡± Draco spoke,

bored, to the room. He hadn¡¯t moved from his work or looked up
the entire time.

Draco decided he liked the Room of Requirement. Its very nature

would supply him with enough magical currents to keep a shield
even if the currents in the building itself were feeling testy. That
was information to file away for use later. Very useful.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before a spell got too close
to Harry and the Veriae bond went haywire. Draco did look up
from his work then as he fought to keep his wings inside so that his
shirt would not be ruined, and waited for Harry to find some
excuse to go sit next to him. He didn¡¯t have to wait long.

Harry was surprised that Draco did not smirk at him as he made his
way over to Draco¡¯s secluded corner. He sat down next to Draco
in such a way that his body would hide from the rest of the room
what Draco¡¯s left hand was doing as his right continued writing
some notes for Divination.

Harry was even more surprised that Draco didn¡¯t say something
along the lines of ¡°I told you so¡± and said so after a few
moments.

¡°Oh, those words don¡¯t even begin to express my feelings of

satisfaction at this moment in time,¡± Draco replied, almost
amicably.

¡°But you¡¯re going to say them anyway, aren¡¯t you?¡± Harry

asked, knowing that they would come out sometime; this was
Draco Malfoy he was talking about here.

¡°Of course. I told you so.¡± And Draco still hadn¡¯t looked up
from his homework, which he was just about done with.
Chapter Nineteen: Because I Wanted To

Draco normally would have found it quite odd, although strangely

not disturbing, to think about Harry Potter while in the shower, but
at this moment in time that was exactly what he was doing. Of
course, he wasn¡¯t thinking about Harry in that way, but it was still
a landmark of sorts. What he was thinking about was this: If Harry
came to Malfoy Manner for Christmas then he would have to, if
only to be polite and proper as befitting a Malfoy, get Harry a
Christmas present. Normally Draco did not bother to think that
much about what presents he got for what people, as he normally
bought the presents so far in advance he forgot what he¡¯d gotten
the person by the time Christmas rolled around. But here he was,
with two weeks before Christmas, and he had to suddenly get
Harry a gift. Well, that¡¯s what Hogsmead trips were for. And
quite satisfied that he had solved this particular problem, he moved
right on to the next: which type of shampoo would he use first?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was also thinking about Draco, though he was not in the
shower because that would have been just weird. No, Harry was all
ready for sleeping, but sleep just hadn¡¯t seemed to visit him yet.

Draco must be thinking about something, Harry thought. After all,

Draco¡¯s showers only got this long if he had something to think
about. And of course, Harry¡¯s mind quickly assumed exactly
what Draco would possibly be thinking about, something he
wished Draco could just up and forget as easily as he said he could.
But Harry knew that when you hear someone professing feelings
they have about you, you can¡¯t really just forget. Although, if
anyone could do it, it would be Draco, Harry had to admit. Yet,
something didn¡¯t quite fit with Draco¡¯s current behavior and his
behavior before Harry had been caught telling Hermione what he
thought of Draco, which proved that the younger Malfoy had not
forgotten.

I find it ironic that you¡¯re so worried about me rejecting you,

when it was you who rejected me first¡- twice.

Why was it that Harry couldn¡¯t get that sentence out of his head?
It wasn¡¯t like it was a particularly nasty thing to say¡- Merlin
knew Draco was capable of doing much worse. But it still would
not go away. Something about the wording¡- it just wasn¡¯t
something he would expect from Draco. It was ironic that Harry
was worried about Draco rejecting him¡- when it was Harry who
had rejected Draco¡-

Harry sat up in bed almost on a reflex.

Oh.

Pieces began to come together. Everything about Draco¡¯s

demeanor that had confused him from the start of this whole thing
seemed to finally make sense. He still hadn¡¯t forgotten the
Wyverns, how afterward Draco had acted so¡- well, as
embarrassed as a Malfoy could ever look in front of someone else.
And then Draco had actually acted downright pleasant at times,
and had even done Harry¡¯s homework for him on one occasion
for the teacher that Harry hated most of all.

Harry grinned, falling back down on to the bed. Then, assured by

the sound of still running water that Draco was no where within
hearing range, couldn¡¯t help mimicking Hermione¡¯s earlier tone.
¡°I know who Draco li-ikes.¡± And it was true, but Malfoys didn¡¯t
make a habit of showing such emotions in public so it had taken a
long time for Harry to piece it together.
I wonder how he would react if I were to randomly kiss him
without having a reason. Harry could almost picture the raised
eyebrow, and look of hidden curiosity, and the ¡°Now what was
that for, Potter?¡±¡- or maybe Draco might even call him Harry
now¡- hmm, that was an interesting thought.

Draco didn¡¯t notice the smile that seemed fixed upon Harry¡¯s
sleeping face as he made his way through the darkened room to his
own bed, which was more of habit than actual practice because
either he or Harry would end up in the other¡¯s bed by morning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was almost used to having Draco in his bed or being in
Draco¡¯s bed himself when he woke up in the morning, and he
continued to be amused by the different positions they were in
when he woke up. He didn¡¯t think they¡¯d yet repeated a position.

Today when he woke up, Draco¡¯s head was resting on one of his
arms, his legs wrapped around Harry¡¯s own. Harry idly thought
that one thing he was getting out of this was a new found sense of
what control was, waking up as a teenager (with teenage
hormones) in such a position.

Again, Harry found himself watching Draco sleep by the dimmed

light of the room. He wondered what Draco would look like if
there were windows in the dungeon so there could be morning
light on him when he slept. If he looked so¡- untouchable in this
type of light he would most likely look positively angelic in that
type of light.

Draco seemed deep in sleep, so deep in fact that he didn¡¯t move

when Harry slowly disentangled their legs. Harry stopped as he
thought about how he would dislodge his arm without waking
Draco. He didn¡¯t get very far down that train of thought as he
went back to watching Draco and not thinking very much at all.

One thing he had to say, Draco looked much more kissable when
he was asleep than when he was awake and one had silver steel
eyes watching you. Not to say Harry didn¡¯t like those eyes; one
could positively drown in them if their owner would let you¡- but
still¡- Damn, where was that Gryffindor courage when he needed
it?

Slowly, as if afraid the very image of Draco would shatter if he

moved too quickly, Harry leaned forward and gently brushed his
lips against Draco¡¯s own. Harry started in surprise as those lips
responded almost immediately. A hand reached up to tangle in his
hair as he pulled back slightly to stop movement such as that.
Harry¡¯s blood sizzled as a tongue worked its way between parted
lips to explore the inner cavern of his mouth. The kiss flowed like
lava and Harry had to stop himself from whimpering when Draco
finally pulled away.

¡°Not that that wasn¡¯t a fascinating way to wake up, but would
you mind sharing exactly what that was for, Harry?¡± Draco asked
as one eyebrow rose in question.

Draco never did find out what Harry found so amusing about that
question before Harry answered, ¡°No reason. I felt like it.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco was pointedly eating breakfast and NOT thinking about
what had happened that morning when the rest of his compatriots
made their way into the Great Hall. He immediately regretted not
leaving when he had the chance. After all, he should have been
prepared for the human-sized leech that latched itself on to his
right arm-which was unfortunately the arm that he was using his
fork with and thus he was stuck staring at his eggs with an almost
forlorn air as all movement of that arm was stopped.

¡°Draaacooo. We haven¡¯t seen you in so long.¡±

Draco wished for a silencing charm¡- or for someone to just make

that woman permanently mute. And yet she continued to keep
talking. Merlin, hadn¡¯t she insulted the English language enough
by now by using it in such a way? And she really didn¡¯t need to
dance around the subject like that. There was no way she was
going to get Draco to take her to Hogsmead, today of all days.
Draco needed to get a present today and that had to take
precedence.

¡°Pansy, I already told Blaise that I would accompany him to

Hogsmead.¡± Draco flashed a sickeningly sweet smile at the girl.
¡°Perhaps next time.¡± Then with practice-honed skill, he
detangled himself from her grasp and headed for the Slytherin
Common Room.

Blaise was just walking out into the hallway when Draco found
him.

¡°Zabini, we¡¯re going to Hogsmead today.¡±

¡°Pansy again?¡±

¡°Do I need to dignify that with an answer?¡±

¡°Fine, but you¡¯re helping me with Potions homework then.¡±

Draco nodded and continued past the hidden door to the Slytherin
Common Room to his own rooms. He would need more suitable
clothing for a trip to Hogsmead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry travelled through Hogsmead, surprisingly by himself,
wondering what on this earth could one buy for Draco Malfoy¡-
especially considering that anything he truly wanted he would have
already bought a month ago¡-
Harry was pointedly avoiding any students of Hogwarts so as to
not get distracted from this goal of his. Even if he didn¡¯t find a
present for Draco here, he would come up with at least an idea
before this day was over or¡- well Harry couldn¡¯t really come up
with a reasonable threat for what would happen if he failed this
self-imposed quest¡- but hopefully he wouldn¡¯t have to come up
with something.

All of the gift shops were decked out in all their splendor as he
meandered down the road. Christmas was just around the corner
after all, a mere week and a half away, and like any shopping
center Hogsmead was full of last-minute shoppers looking for just
the right Christmas gift. It was easy to lose yourself in such a
crowd, not quite as bustling as the one in Diagon Ally but close.

It was also strange, in such crowds, who you actually saw. And as
Harry neared one particularly¡- expensive looking shop, he saw
none other than Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini standing
nearby. Blaise was looking around and discussing where they
should go next. Draco was only half paying attention, his eyes
seeming to be drawn to something in the middle of the window
display.

Harry hung back, careful not to be seen by either boy, watching as

Draco¡¯s perusal of this object turned to acceptance and then a
look of more interest. But surprisingly Draco made no move to buy
whatever it was that he obviously wanted, instead he moved
through the crowd with his fellow Slytherin when said Slytherin
excitedly began urging Draco along to look at something or other.
As they moved off, Harry went to look in the window. It was a
jewelry shop that also sold small, expensive, trinkets. Harry had
seen this kind of store before but had never actually been in one.
And the item that Draco had been looking at was¡- well, Harry had
to admit it was very pretty.

The item in question was a set of crystal chimes, edged in silver

with trailing flowers flowing around the top, also in silver. Harry
had seen such flowers; his aunt had wanted some of them planted a
year before. The plant was green when it was live, and grew in a
bush although it spread out in a vine-like manner. The flowers it
created were a dark pink color, shaped like upside-down hearts that
were broken in the middle, thus earning it the name of the
¡°Bleeding Heart Flower¡±. Harry could now see why Draco
wouldn¡¯t want to buy this in front of other people. A Malfoy and
Bleeding Heart Flowers didn¡¯t mix. It was the kind of item that
one would have to be able to say, ¡°Oh, that was a gift from so and
so¡±, or one of those things that husbands kept around simply
because it was a gift from their wives¡- no matter how they really
felt about it.

Harry looked over at the card next to the chimes to see exactly
what the item did. It was charmed to chime the hour, though it was
not actually a clock, with each hour having a different chime.
These were all set to a default chime but one could set a different
chime if they wanted to.

With a set smile on his face Harry walked into the shop and
pointed to the chimes in the window, asking if they could be gift
wrapped as well.

Chapter Twenty: Through the Looking Glass

When one was being entirely truthful, there were only a few things
in life one could really count on, and Draco became ever firmer in
his resolve of this statement as he passed by gift after gift that he
could have bought for Harry but¡- didn¡¯t. It was rather sad really,
all the glitter of commercialism everywhere, but just not the right
glitter. Not that Draco hadn¡¯t seriously considered most of the
gifts (all inside the correct price range of course¡- a range that
would have made most people flinch); there were some really good
candidates¡- but they just weren¡¯t right and there was no getting
around it.

No amount of rationalizing worked, and Draco had been

rationalizing for hours. If the gift wasn¡¯t perfect then Draco
wasn¡¯t going to buy it. That was what Christmas was all about
after all, spending oodles of money on gifts that were, in a word,
perfect. If they weren¡¯t perfect then there was no point in giving
them in the first place. And perfect wasn¡¯t just ¡°perfect for this
moment only¡± or ¡°perfect for now but would soon be cast
aside¡±, no, perfect was perfect. Something that was meaningful on
Christmas Day when it was opened, meaningful on New Years Eve
a few days later, and meaningful for at least twenty years down the
line when all the glitter and sparkle of it being new wore off.

Not that Draco really followed this ideal when he normally got
presents for people. No, this was an ideal saved only for family
because family was important where groupies were not. And, as
much as Draco sometimes hated (and sometimes didn¡¯t mind so
much), Harry Potter was family now. Ergo, the ¡®perfection
problem¡¯ as Draco was now terming it.

Draco had parted ways with Blaise as soon as they both knew that
the coast was clear and that less wanted people wouldn¡¯t latch on
to either of them, and now he sat drinking a butterbeer and
thinking about this problem at hand.
His father always solved this by quantity. For as long as Draco
could remember, Christmas (and his birthday, but that wasn¡¯t
until June anyway) was the time to be literally showered with gifts.
When he was a child his father had even done the idea of twelve
days of Christmas with the gifts growing in number each day. But
he¡¯d grown out of that (albeit mournfully as that really had been a
nice tradition) and had been happy with the multitude of presents
on Christmas morn. It made some sense too: give as many gifts as
you can come up with and one of them will be perfect. Easy and
simple¡- when dealing with Draco that is. Draco thought back to
the necklace he¡¯d received last year, gold and engraved with the
Malfoy family crest, that he¡¯d opted to leave at home when he
returned to school and remembered how much he¡¯d regretted that
decision.

But Draco didn¡¯t have the time or patience (note that he did have
the resources) to find every little thing that Harry could have ever
wanted in his life to wrap and give to him. So Draco had to go for
quality instead. But what was the one thing that Harry Potter would
want most of all? That was the question of the day.

Paying for his drink, Draco again stepped into the cold December
air and continued moving. Now¡- if he were Harry Potter what
would he want? Well, parents. That much was simple. If there was
one thing that would be the most meaningful thing ever, it would
be Harry¡¯s parents. But Draco couldn¡¯t do necromancy and
couldn¡¯t really pay anyone else to. In fact, the only person he
knew who had accomplished the whole ¡°brought back to life¡±
feat was Lord Voldemort. And Voldemort would probably opt to¡-
well, something disgusting, rather than bring back the Potters. So,
actually giving Harry his family for Christmas was out of the
question.

Pictures¡- another out of the question. All he would be able to find

would be the school photos and Harry probably already had those.
No, what Draco needed was something that would provide a
different aspect than just looking at a picture. Something that
would allow Harry to really see them and¡- well, why just Harry¡¯s
parents. What about something that would allow Harry to really
know all the people who cared for him like family, to really see
them¡-

Draco¡¯s eyes fell upon a mirror that was propped up on a stand

inside a window display. It was a simple oval mirror, made of
white gold, with a handle. It looked rather like the kind of mirror
Narcissa used to enjoy using. But this mirror was a bit different
from that. It was rather plain really, with a simple border around
the edge of the mirror that was elegant but not extravagant to the
point of excess. Draco peered into the mirror and saw his own
reflection looking back at him. And in that instant where his own
eyes locked on his reflection¡¯s, Draco realized what he would
give Harry for Christmas. And it would be absolutely perfect.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco arrived back at Hogwarts just as the sun was beginning its
downward motion against the sky and headed straight for the
library. If he was right, then he knew where a certain spell he was
looking for could be found. He turned into the section of books set
aside for scrying, the art of magic where one searched for
something. He¡¯d looked this magic up in the summer of his
Second Year at the Manor, but Hogwarts had a larger amount of
books than Malfoy Manor did. Of course, scrying was completely
¡°light¡± magic and a more commonly known form of abstract
magic, so that was almost expected.

Normally, scrying was done with a mirror or the surface of a pond

or lake as long as the water was still. There was normally no
incantation as the magic was abstract, formed more from thoughts
than words. One touched the tip of the wand to the surface and
thought of who or what you were trying to find, and if the magic
worked you could see who or what it was you were looking for.

But Draco remembered that there was a spell that he¡¯d found and
remembered vaguely, as if it was interesting but not something that
he had cared a whole lot about so hadn¡¯t bothered to memorize it
or work with it. Even though scrying was abstract, there was an
incantation or two that used elements of scrying in them. The spell
that he wanted to use to complete Harry¡¯s present was one of
these.

Pulling out a large tome from the shelf, he flipped through the
index. Nope, not this one. Move on to the next one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fifteen books later, Draco found the spell he was looking for. He
checked the book out of the library and made his way down to his
rooms, greeting Medusa with the password and an inquiry about
her continued good health.

Harry was nowhere to be found. Good. He could do the spell now

and wrap the present before Harry got back, and be done with it.
Carefully, Draco removed the mirror from its casing and placed it
on the table near the fireplace. He then turned to the book and read
through the passage about the spell a few times to make sure he
understood the information correctly. Then he began.

His wand curved up in an arch and down to touch the middle of the
mirror¡¯s reflective surface as he spoke:
¡°Homo Dignitatis Animans Vivae Picturatus Morti Videre.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latin Translation:

Homo ¨C person, human (in the nominative case)

Dignitatis ¨C importance (in the genitive case)

Animans ¨Canimated (participle)

Vivae ¨C life (in the dative case)

Picturatus ¨C pictured (participle)

Morti ¨C death (in the dative case)

Videre ¨C to see (verb infinitive)

Put that together and you get ¡°To see a person of importance
animated in life pictured in death¡±. I did this to the best of my
abilities as a Latin student, but if any scholars out there want to
refute this, be my guest to do so.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Name of a Malfoy

Harry finished folding his best school robes and placed them on
top of Draco¡¯s wrapped present. That should be enough padding,
he thought, as he closed the lid of his trunk. This was it. He¡¯d
already been to the last class before Christmas break, and had
finished packing. Tomorrow he would leave Hogwarts with
everyone who normally left and would ride the train back to
London from where he and Draco, and probably Lucius Malfoy as
well, would all be going to Malfoy Manor. It was surprising people
hadn¡¯t made a lot of fuss, but that was probably because no one
really knew. Heck, the only people who knew that he and Draco
were ¡°together¡±, if one could call them that, were his friends, the
staff at Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy, Draco, and himself of course.

It was amazing they¡¯d kept it a secret for so long Sowhy was he

so surprised that no one made a big commotion about his living
arrangements for Christmas break? After all, it wasn¡¯t as if he had
much of a real choice in the matter. He¡¯d likely wake up in
Malfoy Manor with Draco even if he went to sleep in Hogwarts.
And it wasn¡¯t like he would be turned over to Voldemort upon
stepping into the house because of the whole Veriae bond thing¡-
So why was it such a big deal to him? Why was he so nervous
about this?

Needless to say, sleep did not come easily to Harry that night,
although it did eventually overtake him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day went almost completely as Harry had envisioned it.
He rode with Ron and Hermione, who were also going home to
visit their families, on the train ride back to London. He then hung
back while the rest of the students were getting off the train, and
saw that while Draco was walking ahead with his Slytherin cronies
(Or were they his friends? Harry didn¡¯t know.), Lucius seemed to
be taking his own time to leave the station. For once Harry was
glad that the Malfoys were almost predictable Slytherins as he
discretely followed the two Malfoys to a¡- limo¡-
Its insides revealed that it only looked like a limo charmed to look
like a lavish stretch limo, but in truth it was a carriage like the ones
at Hogwarts. The ride to Malfoy Manor was another few hours and
neither Malfoy seemed inclined to talk, yet the silence was more
companionable than forced or harsh. When Harry got out of the
carriage, the first thing he noticed were the four, translucent, white
horses which had pulled the carriage. He would have to find out
what species they were¡- maybe ask Hagrid when he got back.

The next thing he noticed was the house. And he wondered why he
didn¡¯t notice the house first when he did get the full view of it.

Describe any fairy-tale castle and you have Malfoy Manor Harry
was reminded of the castle that he¡¯d seen once in a muggle
Disney movie when he was very young. He¡¯d been locked in the
cupboard for a few days but he¡¯d thought it was worth it to see
¡°Beauty and the Beast¡± even a little bit of it, when his uncle and
aunt had let Dudley watch it. And now he stood at the doorway to
a recreation of the Beast¡¯s enchanted castle before the spell was
broken. Yet¡- there were some differences Harry could see.

The carriage stopped at the middle of a driveway of sorts¡- but

made of a white stone not pavement. To walk to the front door you
passed by four statues, two of the Roman god Marsand two of the
Roman goddess Athena. Then you got to a large black iron
gateway that was engraved with the image of Saturn. It opened into
what looked like a huge garden, covered in snow, and Harry could
only wonder what it looked like in spring. They continued forward
to the front door and Harry looked up in awe at the better view of
the house from its front step. Gargoyles leered down at him from
its heights and owlery (if Harry¡¯s guesses were any good). Two
carved sphinxes sat just over the eves of the door and seemed to
hold a watchful expression. So real was that expression that Harry
wondered if they were truly watching him.

The doors were ebony and lined in steel and iron and as Lucius
approached them they opened by themselves, as if knowing the
presence of their master. A House Elf immediately appeared at
Lucius¡¯ side that he ignored completely except to let it take his
outer cloak.
¡°I trust you can situate Harry in your wing, Draco¡± Lucius said
¡°And give him a tour of the Manor. I have a few things to look
after.¡±

¡°Yes Father.¡±

And Lucius left, leaving Harry and Draco alone in the foyer.

Harry was too busy looking around to notice. The foyer was built
on the idea of crystal, with statues of Venus hewn from a violet
crystal on either side of the doorway.

¡°My grandfather was into Roman ideals.¡± Draco mused, seeing

where Harry was looking. ¡°He chose to redo the foyer and front
hall, as well as some of the outside of the Manor. When we get into
different wings of the Manor, you¡¯ll see different themes
according to who spent most of their time there.¡±

Draco spoke as if that was what Harry had been thinking of, but
Harry had simply been admiring the art. The foyer opened up onto
the Great Hall which lead to one of four ballrooms, and three
sitting rooms, a breakfast room, the large dining room, and the
kitchens (though Draco didn¡¯t show Harry those those were for
the House Elves). This was all on the first floor.

On the second floor were three breakfast rooms, two more sitting
rooms, two tea rooms, the red library (red because the upholstery
was decked in blood red velvet), Lucius¡¯ study (which Draco
didn¡¯t show Harry as Lucius was in there apparently) and
Lucius¡¯s personal library (another no show as that could only be
entered through Lucius¡¯ study), the large billiard room, and the
small dining room. Harry didn¡¯t bother pointing out that this
¡°small¡± dining room could have fit more than three of the
Dursley¡¯s dining rooms¡-
The third floor was split into two wings, one of which was
Lucius¡¯ and one of which had been Narcissa¡¯s. These held
bedrooms and the like, which Draco passed over rather quickly,
but Harry still had time to wonder what one person would do with
two bathrooms of their own, a sitting room of their own, a
bedroom of their own, and a dressing room of their own.

The fourth floor held Draco¡¯s rooms, a guest suite, the blue
library, and the smaller billiard room. Draco didn¡¯t go near his
rooms because they¡¯d be coming back that way anyway.

The fifth floor was all guest rooms and the sixth floor was the
owlery as Harry had guessed. Apparently there were other towers
and such but they got cold in the winter so Draco didn¡¯t feel like
walking up to their tops. Although he did say that in the summer
they were nice and cool, and one had a beautiful view of the fields,
stable, the lake, and the back gardens.

Draco had asked if Harry actually wanted to see the north and
south dungeons, four wine cellars, and three torture chambers, but
Harry had quickly declined.

They returned to Draco¡¯s wing and found that their trunks had
been placed in Draco¡¯s room. This wing was furnished by Lucius
himself, apparently, after Draco¡¯s birth, and Harry could see
where the elder Malfoy had gotten his inspiration.

It did fit Draco, Harry mused. Lucius had concentrated on ivory,

with dragons and serpents of every culture adorning the doorways
of the rooms. The walls varied from dark shades of green to rich
forest colors. But what really got Harry¡¯s attention was Draco¡¯s
bed. It was a work of art, it really was: a huge king-sized bed (or
maybe bigger if that was possible) with black ivory posts rising a
few feet above it, though it wasn¡¯t a canopy bed. On the top of
each post was a carved head of Anubis, and these carvings wore a
small snake around their necks like a necklace. Their eyes,
emeralds, seemed to glitter in the light. The sheets were black silk,
edged in gold.

¡°We¡¯ll have to share¡± Draco commented, also looking at the

bed.

¡°It looks like there¡¯s enough room.¡± Harry had to say honestly.

¡°Well, needless to say, this is my room¡± Draco said after a

moment. ¡°Yours should be right through¡-¡± he walked over to a
seemingly empty wall on the right side of his room and began to
walk down it with his hand on the wall. At one place it actually
went through the wall. ¡°Right here. Come on.¡±

And Draco walked through the wall. Harry realized that this
shouldn¡¯t be fazing him After all he did this to get into the train
station every year, but the nonchalance at which Draco just walked
through the wall¡- oh well.

The room they entered looked somewhat like the other guest rooms
at Malfoy Manor. It had a bleached wooden floor (oak maybe¡-
Harry didn¡¯t know floorings that well) and blue drapery on the
numerous windows in the room. The bedding was also blue. The
ceiling was painted to look like a cloudy sky but Draco told him
that if it was snowing or raining outside the illusion spell would
kick in so it would seem to be snowing or raining in the room. At
Harry¡¯s question, Draco also explained that the House Elves had
just set up a portal between his room and this one so they didn¡¯t
have to walk across the entire floor to go between the two rooms.

There was a small pop behind the two boys which announced the
arrival of a House Elf.
¡°Master Lucius sent me to tell Master Draco that the Parkinsons
are hosting the Christmas party this year,¡± it said in a squeaky
voice.

Draco didn¡¯t look pleased at this announcement. ¡°Thank you,

you may go,¡± he told the elf in clipped tones.

¡°What party is this?¡± Harry asked curiously.

¡°Well, every year someone in-¡± Draco seemed to fish around for
the right words, ¡°-our circle hosts a Christmas party. It¡¯s all show
and a big waste of time really, just to see who can outdo everyone
else. And it¡¯s the Parkinsons¡¯ turn this year.¡±

¡°Not a good thing I take it.¡±

¡°Exactly. And here I thought I had a week or so free from her

presence.¡±

Harry flopped on the bed. ¡°Pansy can¡¯t be that bad.¡±

The look Draco gave him could have melted iron. ¡°You have no
idea.¡±

Harry looked at the ceiling for a minute before a thought came to

him. ¡°I don¡¯t have to go to this thing, do I?¡±
¡°Not unless you want to go as my significant other¡± Draco
replied, a sarcastic smile forming ¡°Because that¡¯s the only way
you¡¯d be invited.¡±

¡°Ah¡- good. Then I won¡¯t have to worry about where I packed

my dress robes.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry wondered exactly what he could really do with both Malfoys
out of the house. He supposed they didn¡¯t care that he was left
there because the House Elves would make sure that nothing was
out of its proper place when they got back, but he still wasn¡¯t
comfortable with it. He began walking back to his room to find
something to do. He didn¡¯t get very far.
¡°Left riff-raff alone in the house did they? My son will never
understand proper decorum,¡± a snide voice on his right spoke.

Harry turned to see a picture of a stately man with blond hair

slicked back so it made him look like a vampire. He had steely
grey eyes, almost cat-like in their perusal of Harry. Harry got a
distinct feel of Lucius from this man, but Lucius didn¡¯t have the
same nose or chin as this person.

¡°Well, don¡¯t just stand there boy. Tell me who my son has let
walk about unchecked so that I may properly address the matter
with him later.¡±

It all clicked. This was Lucius Malfoy¡¯s father. Somehow Harry

got the feeling that this man could be worse than Lucius if he put
his mind to it.

¡°My name is Harry Potter sir¡± Harry gave a little bow as he said
so and, lying through his teeth, continued. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my
appearance I haven¡¯t had time to change out of the school
uniform yet.¡± He figured that he should at least try to get on the
portrait¡¯s good side¡- if it had one.

The man¡¯s lip curled. ¡°Yes, they certainly have to change that.
Ever since Lucius went to school the uniform has been absolutely
horrid. A result of allowing muggles into the school. They don¡¯t
have the same background as the old wizarding families. Horrid
Just horrid.¡±
Harry didn¡¯t know exactly what was horrid, the muggles in the
school or the uniform because of allowing muggles in the school,
so he didn¡¯t dare comment. After all, he didn¡¯t want all of the
pictures in Malfoy Manor to hate him¡- that would be so very
annoying and he doubted Draco would allow him to burn them
all¡-

¡°But I haven¡¯t seen you around the Manor, Potter was it?¡±

¡°Yes sir. I just came for Christmas break sir.¡±

Lucius¡¯ father frowned. ¡°And he let one of Draco¡¯s friends have

free reign of the Manor?¡± The man shook his head as if his son
was a hopeless case.

¡°Not exactly sir.¡± A sharp look from the man made Harry
continue. ¡°I am Veriae-bonded to Draco, sir.¡±

¡°Ah, so Lucius passed down that blood did he?¡±

Harry now had the distinct impression that Lucius and his father
had not gotten along at all. Everything seemed to be Lucius¡¯ fault
to this man.

¡°Well then, I guess it is fitting that I be the first one to welcome

you to the family. Your surname is Potter? Yes, that is fine The
Potters are an older wizarding family, not as prestigious as some,
but good enough.¡± Then, on a direct change of topic, ¡°How old
are you boy?¡±

¡°16 sir.¡±

¡°A good age to be bonded. I¡¯m glad to see that at least Lucius¡¯
son is doing things correctly. Must be my good influence rubbing
off on him.¡±
¡°He speaks fondly of you sir.¡± Yeah¡- Draco had never
mentioned Lucius¡¯ father, but if he was trying to make the portrait
like him Harry could not have picked a better thing to say.

¡°Of course he does, my boy. I couldn¡¯t trust Lucius to teach him

how to do things properly. Lucius is even of the mind to let the boy
pursue that horrid occupation¡- what was it again? Ohno matter.
He doesn¡¯t see that one has to have a certain occupation when in
an upstanding family such as ours. I tried my best to educate him
when he was young, but he never listened. Speaking of which,
what are you going to do with your life boy? Something befitting
the Malfoy name, I would hope.¡±

Think fast Harry, Harry said to himself. Would an auror be a job

befitting a Malfoy? How in Merlin¡¯s name should he know? How
could he get out of this one? Well¡- if Lucius inherited his dislike
for the Ministry from his father¡-

¡°My advisor in Hogwarts has suggested that I become an auror for

the incompetent fools in the Ministry.¡±

Perfect.

¡°Those babbling idiots in the Ministry could never get anything

done properly!¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Harry finally got away from Lucius¡¯ father¡¯s portrait, he
found that all of the portraits (which had been silently watching
when Draco had led him through the Manor before) were equally
inquisitive as to who had been left in the Manor. After a while it
became easy for Harry to mingle with the portraits, and rather fun
as well. All he had to do was make some comment on how the
Ministry of Magic was incompetent and/or how the dress code at
Hogwarts was unbearable nowadays, and make sure to always
address the portrait as ¡°sir¡± or ¡°ma¡¯am¡± and they all thought
that Draco could not have chosen a better young man to bond with.
How the portraits viewed Lucius was puzzling to Harry though.
Apparently there had been a huge rift in the Malfoy family
between Lucius and his father. (Harry could only guess that it had
something to do with Voldemort.) Half of the pictures followed the
views of Lucius¡¯ father and thought that Lucius was a disgrace to
the Malfoy name, and the other half thought that Lucius was one of
the ¡°better Malfoys¡±. From the conversation with Lucius¡¯
father¡¯s picture, Harry could only guess that the Veriae blood also
had something to do with it. Maybe Lucius¡¯ mate was one that the
traditional Malfoys wouldn¡¯t approve of? Oh well, all the pictures
seemed rather fond of Harry, so he didn¡¯t have much to worry
about.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco and Lucius returned home at around eleven, and Harry was
just about to doze off on the couch in Draco¡¯s room when Draco
slammed open the door. Harry jumped slightly at the noise.
¡°I¡¯m guessing that wasn¡¯t the best few hours of your life¡±
Harry commented as Draco pulled off his outer robes. Harry
regretted this statement immediately as Draco seemed to explode.

¡°If that girl comes near me again with something alcoholic I am

going to ring her neck!¡± Draco began to rant about how he didn¡¯t
care if it was a muggle way to kill someone, or that it was illegal to
murder someone for that matter, he would do it anyways. Harry
tuned most of it out, knowing that his job in this was to just agree
with whatever was being ranted about. But at the end of the rant
something caught his attention.

¡°And since when has pink been a Christmas color anyways?¡±

¡°Pink?¡±

¡°Yes!¡±

¡°Neon pink?¡±

Draco stopped for a moment to think. ¡°No, not neon, the kind of
pink that says ¡®new baby girl¡¯.¡± Draco shuddered. ¡°It clashed
with the red so horribly.¡±

Harry couldn¡¯t help it he had to laugh, picturing red, green, and

pink as Christmas colors.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Harry, get up! Presents!¡±
Harry barely had time to register who was speaking before he
found himself falling off the bed and on to the floor with a startled
yelp. Fixing a glare at the Malfoy whose fault that was through the
mattress of the bed, he muttered, ¡°You have a king size bed,
Draco. Was that really necessary?¡±

Draco didn¡¯t respond, as he was perched at the end of the bed, a

delighted smile on his face. Wait¡- a smile? Harry blinked. Yes,
Draco Malfoy was smiling, almost gleefully, as he shifted through
a mountain of presents. Harry watched him methodically tossing
the topmost presents back towards the head of the bed.

¡°Any reason why you¡¯re doing that?¡± Harry asked, crawling

back on the bed, barely ducking what looked like a wrapped book.

¡°Relatives and friends. Father always puts his presents under all
this junk.¡±
Harry looked in shock at Draco as the Malfoy surfaced from
underneath the pile of bows and expensive wrapping paper with
three presents wrapped in plain black paper with the name ¡°Draco
Malfoy¡± written in white calligraphy on them.

¡°You¡¯re kidding me¡± Harry muttered, looking back and forth

from the pile of presents that Draco had virtually disregarded to the
three simple looking presents he held. Here he was, with more
presents than Dudley had gotten for the last three birthdays and
Christmases combined and all he cared about were those three.

¡°They don¡¯t really put any thought into it anyway, Harry. So

those presents don¡¯t really count¡± Draco explained as he climbed
out of bed and made his way towards the nearest chair. ¡°Crabbe
and Goyle always send their presents by mail, so I don¡¯t expect
those for another hour yet.¡±

So Draco only cared about five presents? Startling. Harry found

himself respecting Draco somewhat for that. But as Draco began to
lightly remove the paper from the first of the three presents that
Lucius had gotten him, Harry¡¯s eyes found the present he had
gotten for Draco in the sea of presents.

¡°You might want to open this one too¡± Harry spoke, picking up
the present and placing it on the floor near the chair, before
crossing into his own room (noting that it was snowing out today)
and looking at the pile on his own bed. Much smaller than
Draco¡¯s, but everyone seemed to be accounted for¡- and it seemed
bigger than usual. Oh well, he¡¯d find out soon enough. So starting
from the top, Harry began unwrapping.

Fred and George had sent him a box full of ¡°surprises¡± from their
shop (latest inventions, they¡¯d said in a note). Mrs. Weasley had
sent a tin of fudge and a sweater as she had for the last five years
running, and Harry gleefully started in on the fudge as he turned to
his other presents. Hermione had sent him a book (The Many Uses
of Parseltongue in History and Today by Snora Serpentis), and
Ron had packed a chocolate frog and a Chudley Cannons poster
for his present. There were also gifts from Remus, Tonks, and a
few of his dorm mates, along with a small present (candy of some
sort with a card, mostly) from every member of the DA Then when
Harry removed Ginny¡¯s present to see what was underneath that,
he had to blink twice to be sure he was seeing what he thought he
saw.

A present that was wrapped in the exact same manner as Draco¡¯s

three important presents had been wrapped, except that it was his
name written in white and not Draco¡¯s. Intrigued, Harry began to
open the paper.

The present hadn¡¯t looked big enough to hold the two books that
he had been given and the small box that was seated on top of
them, but somehow they¡¯d fit into wrapping that made them look
about as big as a muggle laptop. Harry looked at the titles of the
two books (Defense Using the Dark Arts by Cursea Vice, and
Quidditch: How Aurors Affect It by Samantha Snitcherson) before
turning to the box. When he opened it, he blinked in surprise as a
small golden object bounced out of the box and began to wiz
around the room. Underneath the ball with the golden wings was a
note on how to use the practice snitch. Grinning, Harry watched it
return to its box, and went to see how Draco was doing.

Walking back into Draco¡¯s room, Harry was no longer surprised

at how small Lucius¡¯ gift had been before he had opened it, when
he saw how much stuff Draco had gotten out of those three gifts.
All of the chairs in the room were covered in clothing and Draco
still hadn¡¯t opened one of the gifts.

¡°Did you ask for a mall or something?¡± Harry looked pointedly

at the clothes.
Draco looked at Harry quizzically, as if Harry had just made up the
word ¡°mall¡±.

¡°No, Harry, I asked for a new wardrobe. I do it every year.¡±

And he gets it every year? Harry shook his head. He kept

forgetting how much difference there was between Draco and
himself in terms of wealth.

An excited squeal from Draco brought Harry¡¯s attention back to

the younger Malfoy as he watched Draco open part of the last
present from his father. Without offering a word of explanation,
Draco bounded to one of the ebony doors in the back of the room
(one which Harry hadn¡¯t seen him use yet) and disappeared down
the stairs that this particular door led to. Harry followed at a
slightly slower pace.

The stairway opened up into a large room with stone walls and
floors, and long ebony tables. Harry blinked. A potions laboratory?
Someone, somewhere, had to be kidding him. But no, there was
Draco, setting up a bunch of equipment, looking now and then at a
book that lay on the table next to him for reference as to where a
particular piece went.

¡°So¡- what is it?¡± Harry asked as Draco stepped back to look at

the contraption of glass and pewter.

¡°It¡¯s a distiller.¡±

¡°A what?¡±

¡°A distiller. You know how when you use things taken directly
from nature, sometimes there are anomalies in the substances
because they were alive at one point¡±
¡°I¡¯ll pretend I know what you¡¯re talking about. Go on.¡±

¡°Well, you put whatever solution it is you want to purify in

here.¡± Draco pointed to one end of the equipment. ¡°Then you
heat it. It boils and the vapor goes through here-¡° Draco¡¯s finger
traced the glass piping, ¡°-leaving behind any anomalies; and as it
does it cools and condenses over here, back into solution.¡±

¡°Okay¡- but why haven¡¯t we used this in class then?¡±

¡°Well, all the ingredients you get from a shop are already purified,
but you don¡¯t have any controls on it.¡±

¡°Controls?¡±

¡°You don¡¯t know how it was done. It just leaves more margin for
error.¡±

Harry nodded. ¡°Right.¡±

¡°You really don¡¯t like Potions, do you?¡±

¡°Not my favorite class.¡±

¡°That was apparent.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It wasn¡¯t until later in the day that Draco remembered that the
present Harry said he might want to open was still sitting near the
chair, unopened. Draco looked at it curiously. Why would Harry
say that? Maybe it was a present from Harry? Draco remembered
his own present for Harry was still sitting at the bottom of his
trunk. For some reason he had held back giving it to the House
Elves to give to Harry. He wondered if the present was really
appropriate for his current¡- standings with Harry.
His fingers began working, almost as if by their own will, on the
wrapping paper. The silver paper came off easily and Draco was
faced with a small white box. Opening the lid his eyes widened.
Carefully he lifted the chimes from the box and just held them for
a moment. He¡¯d been looking at these for years, ever since his
first visit to Hogsmead with the other students. Of course, in public
he had a reputation to maintain so he couldn¡¯t just go in and buy
them unless he was going to give them to someone else, and that
wouldn¡¯t be the case.

In the box underneath the charms was a small note. Written in

somewhat messy but legible writing were the words:

Happy Christmas Draco, From Harry

How did Harry know? Somehow Harry had figured out that he
wanted the chimes. No one else had figured it out in how many
years yet somehow Harry had. Harry had put that much thought
into it¡- Suddenly his own gift to Harry didn¡¯t seem so
inappropriate any more.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry looked up from his Transfiguration essay as Draco walked
into his room. In his hands the boy held a thin present wrapped in
dark red paper, almost a wine color.
¡°Happy Christmas Harry¡± Draco murmured, holding the gift out
to Harry. When Harry took it the other boy left the room and left
Harry blinking in astonishment at the gift. Draco had actually
gotten him one?
Harry put down his quill and all thoughts about the metamorphosis
of Reptilian Snagweed seemed to fly out of his head. Carefully he
began to undo the paper and revealed¡- a mirror?

He looked at it for a minute but saw no reflection in the mirror.

Hmm¡- not a normal mirror then. What was Draco-

The surface of the mirror seemed to swirl and Harry found himself
looking at¡- Draco. He could see Draco shifting all the presents
that he hadn¡¯t bothered opening off his bed and telling a House
Elf something pertaining to them. He looked as if his mind wasn¡¯t
really on what he was doing. So this was Draco right now?

Harry thought for a moment. Did this mirror show him anyone?
Harry noticed that as soon as he stopped thinking about Draco the
mirror¡¯s image faded. How about Ron?

The image swirled and he could see Ron sitting in the middle of
his family while they were opening presents.

Hermione?

She was eating lunch, the remains of presents still strewn around
the table and a book (Harry assumed it was new) open to the
thirtieth page.

Harry frowned a bit as the image faded. It was cool and all, but
what was the point really? He doubted Draco would have given
him a gift on a whim so there must be a point to it other than the
obvious one.

The mirror showed people¡- well, maybe the person didn¡¯t have
to be alive¡-
Unbidden, thoughts of Sirius and his parents flowed into his head.
The image swirled and there they were smiling up at him. They
weren¡¯t moving, like the other pictures had, but they were still
there, standing against a grey background.

Harry heard a small yelp before Draco appeared through the wall
looking slightly shaken. ¡°Harry, the bond¡¯s going crazy Are you
okay?¡±

Harry smiled as the image faded and he looked up at Draco.

¡°Thank you Draco.¡±

Draco shifted minutely, as if slightly embarrassed. ¡°You¡¯re

welcome¡- and thanks for the chimes too¡-¡±

There was a small pop and the same House Elf from the day before
appeared in the room. Its large eyes sought out Harry. ¡°Master
Lucius is wondering if Master Potter is wanting to invite any
relatives for dinner tonight, sir,¡± it squeaked out unsurely.

Harry blanched. The Dursleys¡- here? Death Eater or not, if the

Dursleys actually came to Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy would
kill them before they got to the main course. And though it would
be rather funny to see their expressions at his current living
arrangements¡- no it would be better not to invite them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco and Harry walked into the dining room (the large one) that
night to see that Lucius was not the only one waiting for them.
Harry almost ran into Draco as he stopped dead right inside the
door.
¡°Hello Mother.¡± Harry heard him say. Mother? Harry looked
around Draco¡¯s shoulder to see that Narcissa Malfoy was
standing a little to the right of Lucius.
¡°Hello Draco dear.¡± Her voice was sickly sweet. As Draco
moved into the room, she saw Harry behind him. ¡°And Harry too.
I didn¡¯t know you were staying here.¡± A quick look at Lucius
which Harry did not like and she continued. ¡°If I¡¯d known I
would have bought you a present too.¡±

¡°Please don¡¯t worry about it, Mrs. Malfoy.¡± Harry managed to

get out, noticing the tension that seemed to be radiating off the two
male Malfoys. Something was wrong here and Harry wasn¡¯t quite
sure what yet.

Dinner was not the most pleasant of affairs, even though an

outsider would not have known were one to be watching somehow.
Harry was surprised at how well all of the Malfoy family could act,
as it was obvious that Narcissa¡¯s visit was not planned or wanted
by the other two. Yet, they were all painstakingly cordial to each
other. He was very happy when dinner was over and Draco asked
if Harry and he could be excused from the table.

¡°Oh of course dears, run along¡± Narcissa said with one of her
smiles that never seemed to reach her eyes.

Draco seemed to ignore Harry after they left the room and Harry
could tell this was not a good night for questions. If he wanted
some answers he would have to find out himself. Draco had long
since disappeared towards their rooms and Harry heard the
scraping of chairs against the floor that meant the other two
Malfoys were getting up from the table. No time to get the
invisibility cloak now.

Harry slipped into one of the alcoves far from the doorway and
gave silent thanks to whichever Malfoy it was that liked dark
corners and had made this particular hall with many of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucius and Narcissa entered the hall a few minutes later, neither
saying a word or looking as pleasant as they had a few minutes ago
when he and Draco had been in the room. Lucius led the way down
the hall towards the door that Draco had said was his study. Only
when both of them had entered the room, did Harry move from his
hiding place to one closer to the open doorway, behind a large
statue of a sphinx.
Harry jumped slightly as a voice whispered in his ear:

¡°It seems we had the same idea.¡±

Harry nodded, looking at Draco who had appeared at his side.

¡°Can we hear what¡¯s going on in his study from here?¡±

¡°As long as they keep the door open.¡±

Draco settled in the alcove next to Harry behind the sphinx statue
and they both waited for one of the elder Malfoys to speak.

¡°Lucius, I didn¡¯t just come here to see Draco.¡±

¡°I gathered as much.¡±

¡°Now I understand that there were certain restrictions placed upon

you that you could not break if you were to gain the trust of¡-
certain individuals. Because of this, our Lord has decided to wait
before deciding how to deal with you.¡±

¡°How to deal with me?¡± Lucius¡¯ tone was harsh, like that of a
glacier.
¡°Yes. I told him that a true Malfoy such as yourself would not
dream of abandoning our Crusade to reinstate the true leadership of
the Wizarding World.¡±

¡°You did?¡± Lucius had turned to look into the fire, his face
unreadable and icy.

¡°Of course. It took me a while to understand your plan but-¡°

¡°You understand nothing if what you are saying is what you truly
think.¡±

If Lucius was a glacier, then Narcissawasliquid steel.

¡°What are you saying? That you have truly abandoned our
Lord?¡±

¡°That is exactly what I am saying.¡±

¡°He will kill you Lucius.¡±

¡°Consider, for the moment, my options, Narcissa. Say, just say,

that I did go back to Voldemort. Do you really think I would
survive the amount of Cruciatus that I would have to endure? Self
esteem only goes so far, Narcissa, and even I can understand my
own weaknesses. At least this way I am allying myself with a side
that will cause the Malfoy name to be preserved.¡±

¡°The Malfoy name. And I suppose that¡¯s all you care about! It¡¯s
always been the only thing you cared about! The only similarity
between your father and you caring about a name! At least he
chose to honor his pure blood and not lower himself to the level of
half-bloods, mudbloods, and their sympathizers.¡±

¡°Do not bring my father into this.¡±

¡°He had such a vision for you Lucius. Had you followed it, you
would have been great, honored by our Lord as your father was.¡±

¡°Narcissa¡-¡± Lucius¡¯ tone was deadly and Harry heard Draco¡¯s

breathing shake as he inhaled. ¡°I will only warn you once. Do not-
¡°

¡°You will say nothing, Lucius. For years I have kept silent, as a
good wife should, and let you handle our affairs. And now I will
speak my piece!¡± Something shifted in her demeanor and her tone
became sickly sweet. ¡°But you won¡¯t listen to me. You only care
about the Malfoy name. Not your family, not its standing, not that
we could impact the world¡-just a name.¡±

Something in Lucius snapped, and there was a sound of ripping

cloth from the study. Harry and Draco looked at each other as if
sharing the knowledge of what had just happened. Lucius¡¯ wings
had appeared. Narcissa had gone too far now. And Lucius¡¯ tone
echoed that knowledge.

¡°If you understand that the holder of the Malfoy name is my son,
then yes, that is all I care about!¡± he shouted and Narcissa paled,
the last to realize that she had moved too far in this argument.
¡°And it is now clear exactly how much he means to you.¡± And,
as if he had waited too long to say these words, he continued. ¡°As
of this moment, consider our bonding annulled!¡± Lucius¡¯ glare
intensified on Narcissa¡¯s pale face. ¡°In forty-eight hours you will
find all of your belongings removed from every Malfoy estate and
property. You will find that your dowry will be fully reimbursed in
your former Gringotts account under your maiden name.¡± His
eyes seemed to take on a glow akin to that of a man finally freed
from a life of prison. ¡°Now get out of my house and if you ever
come near my son again our next meeting will not be one you will
enjoy.¡±
Narcissa huffed, although she did nothing to retaliate against
Lucius¡¯ words. She couldn¡¯t really, not with the black steel
wings constantly reminding her of how angry Lucius actually was.
She marched out of his study and slammed the door behind her.
Harry and Draco pushed farther into the alcove as she passed by
and she didn¡¯t see them. Neither did Lucius as he threw open the
door as she reached the top of the entrance staircase.

¡°And you had better be thankful I¡¯m not a Death Eater any
longer Narcissa, or I would be following that up with a well-placed
Killing Curse!¡±

Narcissa paled another few shades and left the house at an even
faster pace than the one she had been taking before. Lucius calmly
closed the door to his study as she left the Manor.

¡°Was that really necessary?¡± Harry breathed, trying to see if

Draco had been hurt by watching his parents fight.

¡°Every word, Harry, every word. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been
prouder to be a Malfoy than at this moment.¡±

Harry smiled at Draco as, even in the dim light, he could see the
glow almost radiating from those soft, silver eyes.------------

Chapter Twenty-Two: Vacation¡¯s Conversations

Harry blinked as a muffled ¡°thud¡± pounded through the walls of

Malfoy Manor. A few minutes later a muffled ¡°crash¡± followed.
This time Harry put down his quill from the letter he had been
writing to Ron and waited a minute. When he heard the muffled
explosion he got up from where he¡¯d been lounging on the bed
and made his way into Draco¡¯s room. Draco was nowhere to be
seen so Harry continued walking down the staircase into Draco¡¯s
potions laboratory. Draco had spent the large part of three days in
there, so Harry was not surprised in the least to find him there
working on¡- something.

Despite the loud ¡°smash¡± that shot through the room as Harry
opened the door, Draco looked as if this was quite normal.

¡°I suppose you wanted those small explosions to happen¡± Harry

commented as he closed the door behind him.

Draco nodded absently as he dropped something green into the

bubbling cauldron, a silver one Harry noted. Harry opted to sit on
one of the many stools in the room as Draco continued working on
whatever it was he was working on. Harry had learned that when
Draco was working on a potion that was either particularly
intricate (never ¡°difficult¡± because that would imply that there
was a chance for failure) or one that reacted to certain steps
particularly quickly he would soon forget that there was anyone
else in the room. And when Draco didn¡¯t think there was anyone
in the room, all his facades fell down to reveal a boy that Harry
thought was absolutely beautiful. Had Harry been a poet he could
have easily written an ode to the way the light of curiosity seemed
to sparkle in Draco¡¯s eyes, making them seem like molten silver.
If Harry had been the best artist in the world, he was sure that he
could not have done Draco justice in the art media, nor the way the
candle-lit room provided a glow that seemed to dance around his
face and fingers as he stirred whatever he was brewing or chopped
something with a fine silver knife. And Harry knew that these
kinds of thoughts about Draco Malfoy would have scared him out
of his skin back during the first week of school, but he realized he
didn¡¯t mind them now.

Draco realized Harry was watching him again. Harry had been
doing that off and on for the past few days. It was obvious to
Draco that Harry was attracted to him at least but Draco wasn¡¯t
sure how far that attraction went. It was rather frustrating. At times
like this, when Harry¡¯s eyes stared at him in an almost unblinking
fashion, as if afraid to miss one detail, or when he would awake in
the morning to find Harry doing the same type of thing as he had
slept, Draco was sure that Harry¡¯s emotions ran deeper. But when
Harry knew that Draco was¡- well alert to his surroundings Harry
was just amicable. It was rather frustrating because Draco didn¡¯t
know how to respond to Harry when he flip-flopped through
emotions like this. Like right now for example. If he stretched just
a bit¡- yes, he could see Harry gulp ever so slightly. That didn¡¯t
happen normally. It was almost like Harry couldn¡¯t make up his
mind.

Draco didn¡¯t really blame Harry for this, because he was in the
same boat really. Oh, he knew Harry was attractive, in a very
different way than Draco himself was attractive, but he didn¡¯t
really know quite where his feelings for Harry lay. There was also
the small fact that neither Harry nor he himself had really broached
yet: the fact that whether they fell in love with each other
eventually or not, they were stuck together for life.

There would be no way they could hide this for all that long after
they graduated Hogwarts¡- Merlin, Draco didn¡¯t even know how
they were going to hide it through the summer when his friends
were going to find it rather strange that Harry Potter just happened
to be at the Manor they hadn¡¯t yet discussed how they should let
the public view their relationship of sorts.

Draco¡¯s eyes quickly fell to the clock at his right. If there was
another explosion in two seconds-

A loud smash rose from the swirling contents of the cauldron.

Yes, it was done. Draco fought back the urge to crow with glee as
he looked at the swirling purple contents of his cauldron. He¡¯d
found this little thing in the back of one of his father¡¯s potions
books and thought it would be fun to try it sometime.

¡°So what¡¯s the point of this one?¡± Harry¡¯s voice questioned

from over his shoulder.

Draco was hit with a truly Slytherin idea and smirked over his
shoulder at Harry. ¡°Watch.¡±

And Draco tipped the entire contents of the potion onto the table.
Harry yelped as the potion began to spread rapidly. Draco pulled
off his shirt and grabbed Harry around the waist, wings spreading
outward from his back as he did so. His wings had grown enough
to somewhat support him in flight so he was able to lift Harry off
the floor and hold them both aloft as the potion continued its
coursethrough the room.

The swirling purple substance spread throughout the

room,crawling across anything it touched, until the entire room
was a swirling purple color.

Harry¡¯s breath had caught in his throat when Draco had picked
him up off the floor, and as Draco held him he tried to make his
heart slow its frantic beating.

Draco fought down a smirk. He could feel Harry¡¯s heart pounding

in his chest, and knew that wasn¡¯t only because he was surprised
at what the potion did.

¡°Rather pretty¡± Draco breathed in Harry¡¯s ear. Harry tried to

ignore the sensation of hot breath on his neck as he nodded.

¡°Is it permanent?¡± That sounded a little raspier than Harry had

wanted it too.
¡°No, it goes away in a few hours¡± Draco replied, touching back
down on the floor of the room now that the potion had settled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was surprised the next day when Draco appeared through the
wall that separated their rooms.
¡°I¡¯m going swimming. Want to come?¡±

Harry looked at Draco incredulously. ¡°In the snow?¡±

¡°Yes, in the snow¡± Draco repeated as if he was talking to a little

child.

¡°Isn¡¯t the water frozen?¡±

Draco smirked at Harry¡¯s confusion. ¡°Just put your swimsuit on

under your clothes and come on.¡±

¡°I don¡¯t have a swimsuit,¡± Harry pointed out truthfully.

¡°The House Elves will get you one¡± Draco replied as he

disappeared back through the wall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The House Elves had done as Draco said, and Harry found himself
following Draco through the foot-deep snow towards where Draco
had pointed out a lake. As they neared the lake Harry had to stop
for a moment when he realized that it wasn¡¯t frozen, in fact, there
was no ice to be seen anywhere in the lake, yet the snow reached
right up to its banks.
As they neared the lake, the temperature seemed to rise¡- yet the
snow remained on the ground and didn¡¯t melt. Warm snow¡- It
was the strangest thing Harry had seen in a long time, and he said
so.

¡°It¡¯s a long range warming charm¡± Draco replied ¡°The House

Elves are really good at it.¡±

When they reached the bank of the lake, Draco calmly stripped off
his outer clothing and plunged into the waters. Harry followed at a
slightly slower pace.

¡°You act like you¡¯ve never been in the water before¡± Draco
commented as he surfaced a few feet away.

¡°I can count on one hand the times that I¡¯ve gone swimming.¡±

Draco blinked. ¡°But you do know how to swim, right?¡±

Harry gave Draco a lopsided smile. ¡°Yes, Draco, I do know how

to swim.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry meandered into one of the libraries(the red one) and paused
in the doorway to see Draco lounging on one of the couches. A
book was spread across his lap but he wasn¡¯t reading. He was
staring off at one of the bookshelves, clearly not really seeing it.
He didn¡¯t move as Harry walked into the room and sat down on
one of the chairs.
¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Harry asked softly.

Draco started and turned slightly to look at Harry. ¡°What?¡±

¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Harry repeated.

¡°Oh.¡± Draco turned to look at the bookshelves again. ¡°We¡¯re
going back to school tomorrow.¡±

Harry waited for Draco to continue.

¡°I¡¯m wondering how long we can hide this from everyone.¡±

¡°We¡¯ve done pretty well so far.¡±

¡°That¡¯s fine for during school, but what happens when the year
ends? Or, if we somehow manage to keep it a secret that long,
what about after we finish school Someone is going to find out,
and the longer we keep it a secret, the more fuss people are going
to make¡- and the wilder the stories are going to be.¡±

Harry frowned. Draco did have a point. The more they hid it, the
more scandalous it became in the eyes of anyone looking in.

¡°Well, the rest of the school knows about you being a Veriae¡±
Harry pointed out.

¡°Do they? The only book in the entire school about Veriae is in
the Restricted Section. How many people in Hogwarts do you
think have read it?¡±

¡°You, me, and Hermione.¡±

¡°Exactly. They know the name but not the meaning. All they are
going to see, or focus on, is that two boys who have disliked each
other immensely over the years they¡¯ve known each other are
living together. If that doesn¡¯t spell scandal¡-¡±

¡°Well, the other sixth year Gryffindor boys all know that I¡¯m not
in Gryffindor tower anymore¡± Harry pointed out.
¡°But do they know why?¡±

¡°No.¡± Harry idly wondered what conclusion they came up with

on their own to explain his absence. ¡°Why are you worried about
it anyway?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe I¡¯d like to be prepared for when it

happens.¡±

Harry was silent for a moment. ¡°What kind of books do you like
to read?¡±

¡°Huh?¡±

¡°Well,¡± Harry began, ¡°Roommates are supposed to know things

about each other, right? So, if we are going to be prepared for
when people find out about our arrangement, then we should know
each other.¡±

¡°Historical novel. You?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t like reading much¡- but I¡¯d say fiction.¡±

¡°Favorite subject?¡±

¡°Defense Against the Dark Arts¡- when there¡¯s a good teacher.

You?¡±

¡°Potions.¡±

¡°Should have known that. Least favorite subject?¡±

¡°Ancient Runes. You?¡±

¡°Potions.¡±
Draco snorted. ¡°Right. Favorite color?¡±

¡°Red.¡±

¡°Silver.¡±

¡°Least favorite color?¡±

Draco smirked. ¡°Neon pink.¡±

Harry wince. ¡°Same.¡±

¡°What do you want to do when you get out of school?¡±

¡°Become an auror, I guess.¡±

¡°Get a mastery in Potions.¡±

¡°No wonder.¡± Harry paused for a few moments.

¡°It¡¯s your turn to ask a question Harry.¡± Draco reminded him.

¡°I¡¯m thinking¡- If you had to be stuck on a deserted island with

either Trelawney or Filch, which would you pick?¡±

¡°What? Neither, I¡¯d throw them to the sharks. Where did you
come up with that?¡±

¡°I dunno. It was random.¡±

Draco thought for a moment. ¡°First crush?¡±

¡°Cho Chang¡± Harry replied immediately and sullenly.

An eyebrow rose. ¡°I won¡¯t ask. King Arthur.¡±

¡°Huh?¡±

¡°There was this picture of him in a book I read a long time ago¡- I
always thought Guinevere was so stupid to leave him for
Lancelot.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry boarded the train to Hogwarts and was pulled through the
train towards the group of "Gryffindor" compartments by his
enthusiastic friends.
¡°How was your vacation, Harry?¡± Hermione asked as she closed
the door.

¡°It was fine.¡±

¡°Malfoy didn¡¯t do anything? Because if he did, I¡¯ll pound him-

¡°

¡°Really Ron, it was fine.¡±

¡°Hi Harry.¡±

Harry smiled up at Ginny and Dean who walked into the

compartment and were shortly followed by Neville and Seamus.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pansy looked a little annoyed when she walked into one of the
decidedly Slytherin compartments to see Draco seated quite
comfortably between Crabbe and Goyle. Blaise, who was already
seated across from them laughed at the look on her face, causing
Draco to look up. He shot her something between a smile and a
smirk.
¡°Maybe next time, Pansy dear.¡±

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Decidedly Good Friday

¡°First day back in school after vacation but do you think the
teachers could go a little easier on us?¡± Ron looked forlornly at
the stack of homework that he had piled in front of him on a table.

¡°You¡¯ll find that if you actually get started on it, Ron, the work
goes much faster than you think it will¡± Hermione told him from
where she was already working on her Arithmancy homework.

Ron looked at Hermione¡¯s pile of homework, which was about

half the size of his because she had already been working on it for
an hour. In a last resort effort, Ron turned to Harry, who also had a
rather large homework pile in front of him.

¡°Harry?¡±

Harry was too absorbed in his Potions text to register the question.
Let¡¯s see¡- R: Radish, Ragweed, Ragwort, Raspberry, Red-root,
Reed (common), Reed (giant), Rose, Rosemary, Rocket (Eruca
sativa), Rue, Rush (common), Rutabagas¡-

¡°Harry!¡±

Harry looked up. ¡°What?¡±

¡°Ron was trying to find a way out of starting his homework¡±

Hermione stated, shooting Ron an annoyed look.

Harry grinned sheepishly. ¡°Sorry, Ron. I have a Potions essay due

first thing tomorrow.¡±
¡°But you don¡¯t have Potions until the afternoon.¡±

¡°I know.¡±

In the silence that followed, Hermione looked up from her

calculations. ¡°Harry, are you sure Malfoy won¡¯t mind us being in
here?¡±

Harry shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re sitting on his bed,

Hermione.¡±

Ron didn¡¯t hold back the shudder that idea sent through him.
¡°Like we¡¯d want to be.¡±

Harry returned to the index. He¡¯d run out of R words. But ¡°Rosa
Rubiginosa¡±, the ingredient he was supposed to be doing this
essay on the uses of, was nowhere to be found. ¡°Where¡¯s the
Rosa Rubiginosa?¡± he asked the book exasperatedly.

¡°Try looking under the common name and not the scientific name,
Harry¡± Draco told him as he entered through the portrait. ¡°It¡¯s
most likely listed under Eglantine.¡±

¡°Thanks.¡± Harry started going back to the E¡¯s.

¡°Sure.¡± And Draco disappeared into the bedroom.

Ron shared a knowing look with Hermione as the blond left the
room.

¡°You two seem to be¡-close, Harry.¡± Ron stumbled slightly over

the words.
Harry thought for a moment. ¡°I guess you could say that. We¡¯re
not really close friends¡- we¡¯re just not enemies any more.¡±

¡°I think that¡¯s a good thing, Harry¡± Hermione told him.

Ron looked almost betrayed. ¡°What? Why?¡±

¡°Well, before this whole thing happened, if we were in the same

room as he, Malfoy wouldn¡¯t ever have missed the chance to start
something. But just now he completely ignored us. I don¡¯t know
about you, Ron, but I¡¯d rather be ignored than be yelling insults at
each other.¡±

The look on Ron¡¯s face clearly indicated that he¡¯d rather be

yelling insults, but he kept quiet. Hermione did have a logical
point, even if his family¡¯s feud with the Malfoys might state
otherwise. Ignoring each other was a lot less¡- troublesome¡- than
constantly fighting.

Talking about his friendship with Draco made Harry remember the
conversation Draco had started the night before they came back.
¡°Hey, Ron¡-¡± Harry started. ¡°What do the other Gryffindors
think about me not staying in the tower anymore?¡±

¡°Well, it¡¯s not a big thing anymore¡± Ron said. ¡°The first couple
of weeks Neville and I had to cover for you a bit.¡±

¡°You told Neville?¡±

¡°Not the whole truth. I told him that it was a safety thing. He
assumed it was about You-Know-oops-Voldemort. And then he
and I told the other boys in the dorm that it was a spacing thing¡-
you know, try not to cramp everyone in. I figured that they might
believe it more if it came from people other than just me.¡±
¡°No one else really noticed you were gone from the Tower,¡±
Hermione explained, ¡°Because you still eat with us and attend the
same classes and still sit in the Common Room. It¡¯s not like
you¡¯re not in Gryffindor anymore--they would have noticed that--
you just have different sleeping arrangements.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco seemed lost in thought during dinner that night, pondering a
thought that had came into his head earlier that day. It was rather
strange, but after a week of having Harry around almost constantly,
from sun up to sun down, he almost¡- well¡- missed having Harry
around. And there was a Hogsmead day this weekend. Adding
these two facts together, his mind had come up with the strangest
idea during History of Magic. Now, Draco was used to the strange
places that one¡¯s mind wandered during History of Magic, but
this was a different thing all together. Why not ask Harry to go to
Hogsmead with him? Or at least, to meet him at Hogsmead for a
little while. Maybe get a drink or something. There were private
rooms at the Three Broomsticks, so no one need know that they
were meeting each other. And it wasn¡¯t like he was asking Harry
on a date or anything¡-Or was he?
That was the problem. Because if he wasn¡¯t then there was no
issue, it was just two people getting together for a few Butterbeers
and company. But if he was, then that would mean something
entirely different¡- something that Draco wasn¡¯t quite ready for.
He would admit that Harry wasn¡¯t the bane of his existence
anymore. He would admit that he could enjoy Harry¡¯s company.
Heck, he could even admit that he liked Harry¡- but he was not
ready to actually do anything about it.

And so that was the dilemma, wasn¡¯t it? Either say nothing and
go about whatever else he would be doing this Saturday. Or, say
something and deal with what it might bring. Well¡- he still had a
few days to think about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The number of days dwindled as Monday turned intoTuesday and
Wednesday followed. Yet Draco was no closer to figuring out his
dilemma than he had been on Monday. He had even considered
writing to his father about it, it had gotten that annoying, but
writing it down would somehow make the issue more real. If he
never wrote it down and the weekend came and went, then he
could just concentrate on forgetting that the thought ever occurred.
But if he wrote it down it became more concrete than a simple
thought that occurred during History of Magic. So instead he tried
to imagine what his father would say. If really wasn¡¯t hard at all.
His father would give him this look and tell him that he was a
Malfoy and Malfoys did what they wanted to and that he should
get rid of these insecure feelings. If he wanted Harry¡¯s company
he should request it and that was that. It shouldn¡¯t matter what it
might look like if someone actually saw them. Really, think
rationally Draco. It all comes down to a matter of pride. Some
Gryffindors are allowed to hang around him and yet you, a Malfoy,
cannot? You have as much right to be around him now as they do,
considering that you no longer hate each other and could even be
considered friends. Morgan, you are going to spend the rest of your
life around him so what is making you inferior to them?
Gryffindors may have their courage when they need it, but for a
Slytherin it is a matter of pride.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry had just finished all his homework for Friday. Of course, he
couldn¡¯t really use any of his free time at this time of night, but it
was still free time and that was a good thing. Yet he felt¡- edgy
somehow. Content that there was no more homework, but edgy all
the same¡- almost as if there was something he should be
concerned about. And he wasn¡¯t concerned about anything right
now. So why was he feeling this tense?
The shower turned off and in the change of noise Harry¡¯s mind
shifted to Draco.

The blond left the bathroom silently, the look on his face almost
contemplative. That, Harry¡¯s mind crowed triumphantly, is where
those feelings came from! But what would Draco have to be
nervous about?

¡°Hey, Draco?¡±

Draco looked over at him from his side of the room.

¡°Are you okay?¡±

¡°Yes.¡±

Well, that didn¡¯t get me anywhere, Harry thought.

¡°Harry.¡±

¡°What?¡± Harry looked over at Draco. The blond wasn¡¯t looking

at him.

¡°You know this is a Hogsmeade weekend right?¡±

¡°It is?¡± Harry blinked. Strange that Ron or Hermione hadn¡¯t

said anything about it.

¡°Yes.¡±

Silence prevailed for a few minutes before Draco calmly asked.

¡°Would you like to do something with me on Saturday?¡±
Harry blinked, surprised Where had that come from? Not that he
was going to turn down an offer like that from Draco.

¡°Sure. Where do you want to meet?¡±

¡°There are some private rooms at the Three Broomsticks. I¡¯ll get
one of them.¡±

¡°Sounds great.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry eagerly dug into his eggs. It was a Friday morning,
tomorrow was Saturday, and that Saturday was a Hogsmeade day.
Add to that the¡- well, anticipation of Draco¡¯s proposition the day
before, and he was in a rather good mood this Friday morning,
even with upcoming classes. The other Gryffindors were in good
spirits as well. Ron was working excitedly at something (Harry
would have to ask him what was going on later), and Hermione
was deeply ensconced in a new book about the psychological
mindset of wizards in the 16th century. Harry had scheduled a DA
meeting for next Thursday, so the other DA members were already
looking forward to it. And there was leftover raspberry pie from
last night¡¯s desert for breakfast, a common favourite of every
House in Hogwarts, so this was a decidedly good Friday.
Over on the Slytherin side of the Great Hall, Draco was also
feeling the Friday spirit (even though raspberry pie was not his
favourite form of pie), but he wasn¡¯t grinning like an idiot as the
Gryffindors on the other side of the room were. A smile--no smirk-
-did appear briefly on his features when a familiar messenger bird
dropped a letter next to his plate. His name was written in plain
black ink on the envelope in a script he knew well. Quickly,
though not outwardly eagerly, he opened the letter.
His father¡¯s note was short¡- something about telling his mother
about the Christmas holidays? Draco quickly stood from the table
and left, ducking into the nearest alcove in the hallway. He waited
as the spell that hid the true letter disappeared as it sensed he was
alone.

A newspaper clipping fell out of the letter.

Draco,
I thought you would have certain interest in this. Fudge has
decided to remove this article and associated pictures from the
Prophet and will not allow it to be printed. You may want to share
it with Potter as well.
Take care,
Lucius Malfoy

Draco¡¯s eyes fell to the article¡¯s words.

Attack on Muggle London?

By Rita Skeeter

Three days after the Christmas holiday a brutal attack on a muggle

hotel shook the heart of Muggle London. The building itself
collapsed in an explosion, killing 134 muggles and wounding 113
more. The muggles believe it to be the work of terrorists, but this
reporter wonders otherwise. Several of the recovered bodies
seemed to have died before the collapse of the building, and there
is evidence that the wounds inflicted upon them were caused by
magical means. The Ministry of Magic refuses to confirm or refute
this for the public and that causes this reporter to wonder if the
Ministry is trying to cover up a darker purpose for this slaughter of
innocent life. This reporter remembers all too well the Ministry¡¯s
continued secrecy around the resurgence of You-Know-Who one
year ago, when it is clear in hindsight that they were simply not
willing to see where known incidents indicated. This reporter can
only guess what the Ministry is hiding now by not revealing if this
truly was a slaughter of muggles by dark wizards and can only
hope that the Ministry will choose to reveal the needed information
to the wizarding public For pictures turn to page three.

Draco quickly wrote a reply to his father and headed for the
owlery. From there he would head for the dungeons. Harry would
have to stop back at their rooms before going to class. He would
tell him then.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Bubble, Bubble, Toil, and Trouble

Harry finished reading through the article with a scowl. ¡°And

Fudge is hiding this?¡±

¡°Yes.¡±

¡°Why that-¡° Harry couldn¡¯t even begin to think of a word that

described what he felt towards the current Minister of Magic.

Draco raised an eyebrow. ¡°So what are we going to do about it?¡±

Harry looked at Draco in surprise. ¡°What?¡±

Draco sighed as if he were trying to explain something to a little

child. ¡°What are you, or rather we, going to do about this?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Harry muttered. Bloody hell, it was too early in
the morning to be dealing with Fudge¡¯s stupidity.

Draco¡¯s smile was predatory. ¡°We get it printed, Harry. That is

what we do.¡±

Harry blinked. ¡°How would we do that?¡±

¡°That¡¯s your job. Get it printed somewhere, anywhere. Like you
did last year.¡±

Draco¡¯s plan began to dawn on Harry. ¡°Can your dad keep

getting articles that Fudge doesn¡¯t want printed?¡±

¡°And even the ones he does. Once this goes public, by any means,
Fudge will have to let the Prophet print it. It would be bad for
business and his reputation if he didn¡¯t.¡±

¡°You mean the Prophet would print it anyway because they

didn¡¯t want to loose customers, and then it would become clear
that Fudge had stopped them from printing it.¡±

¡°Exactly.¡±

¡°Then that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll write father about our plan after class.¡±

Harry looked to a clock. ¡°Bloody hell, Divination is in five

minutes! I gotta run.¡± Harry grabbed his stuff and ran out of the
room, ignoring the protests from Medusa about being slammed
open and shut.

¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive him, Medusa dear. This time it wasn¡¯t

his fault.¡± Draco drawled as he left a few minutes later.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron had saved Harry a seat next to him and was visibly relieved
when Harry ran through the door a minute before class.
¡°What took you so long?¡± he whispered.

¡°I¡¯ll tell you and Hermione later,¡± Harry whispered back.

Ron nodded and turned towards the front of the room as their
teacher entered in her usual fashion. ¡°Think we¡¯ll actually learn
something today?¡±

¡°I wouldn¡¯t bet on it,¡± Harry muttered back.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry found Luna sitting in a corner of the library that afternoon.
She seemed to be reading so he waited until she looked up at him
before he spoke.
¡°Hi Luna.¡±

¡°Hello Harry.¡± She gave him a small smile. ¡°Would you like to
assist me in divining the future of the Muglooof clan by reading
the words in this book backwards?¡±

Harry didn¡¯t know what a Muglooof was. ¡°Not at the moment,

Luna. I have to talk to you about getting an article published in
your dad¡¯s magazine.¡±

¡°What kind of article?¡±

Harry leaned forward to whisper, ¡°One that the Minister of Magic

doesn¡¯t want printed in the Prophet.¡±

Luna¡¯s smile broadened. ¡°I¡¯ll send it to him.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Harry returned from the library, he found Hermione working
on some assignment alone in the Gryffindor common room.
¡°Hey, Hermione. Where¡¯s Ron?¡± he asked, sitting down on the
couch next to her.

¡°He¡¯s off playing chess with¡- Dean I think.¡± Hermione put

down her quill and turned to look at Harry. ¡°He¡¯s avoiding
having this conversation with you.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him this weekend and I

said yes. But he didn¡¯t want to tell you because he didn¡¯t want to
ostracize you.¡±

¡°Ostracize?¡±

¡°Leave you out.¡±

¡°Oh, well that¡¯s no problem.¡± Harry said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m

doing something with-¡° he looked around quickly to see that no
one could hear ¨C ¡°Draco this weekend anyway.¡±

¡°He asked you out?¡± Hermione looked surprised and pleased.

¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

¡°How do you not know?¡±

We¡¯re doing something, but whether it¡¯s a date or not is still up

for grabs.¡±

¡°Oh.¡± Hermione seemed to think about that for a minute. ¡°Well

then I wish you luck on whatever it turns out to be.¡±
Harry grinned. ¡°Hopefully I won¡¯t need it, right?¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That Saturday dawned warmer than it had all winter and glaringly
bright. The feeling was almost infectious as students throughout
Hogwarts dressed warmly for a day roaming the streets of
Hogsmeade. Harry, guessing that Ron would be bouncing off the
walls in nervous tension, left for Gryffindor Tower before
breakfast, leaving Draco in the shower.

Harry was right, Ron was a mess. The other boys had long since
stopped trying to calm Ron down. The redhead practically attacked
Harry when he came into the dorm.

¡°Harry! What am I going to do! Or wear! And what if I act like a

jerk and-¡°

Harry shared a suffering look with the other boys who were very
glad not to be in Harry¡¯s shoes right now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco was thinking much along the same lines as Ron, but in a
more dignified manner. And the only one around to hear his
mutterings was a mirror. She had watched unimpressed as Draco
had taken most, if not all, of the clothes out of his closet and
strewn them around the room. And then watched as he proceeded
to pace between the piles that had formed, discarding item after
item for being ¡°not good enough¡±.
¡°Why don¡¯t you close your eyes, pick a shirt, and then find
trousers to match?¡± The mirror asked irritated.

Draco fixed her with a glare that translated to ¡°what could a

mirror know?¡±.

¡°Hun, I¡¯ve been here for years. I¡¯ve been in every dorm
possible and I¡¯ve seen this mess over and over. Believe me,
everyone eventually gets to that point. So why don¡¯t you save
yourself a whole lot of trouble, pacing, and wearing yourself out in
worry?¡±

Draco didn¡¯t comment, but sneered at the mirror¡- and then

picked up the nearest shirt.

Breakfast was already underway when Draco was finally pleased

with how he looked and donned the traditional Slytherin robes over
his outfit. Perfect.

¡°You look lovely darling. Now wasn¡¯t that easier?¡± The mirror
asked. Draco shot another glare at the mirror and left, muttering
about reflective glass that knew too much.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hogsmeade was always bustling with people, and the left-over
cold from the height of winter did nothing to deter them. So it was
with a little difficulty that Harry made his way through the
crowded room of Three Broomsticks to the back where the private
booths were. Madam Rosmerta had smiled warmly at him and
waved him towards the booth that was tucked in the most out of
the way corner of them all with a, ¡°He¡¯s waiting for you.¡±
The booths themselves were something of a stroke of genius to
Harry. They were placed around the outskirts of the room with
concealing, silence, notice-me-not, and privacy charms on them
that were keyed to the people that wanted to use them. Regular
customers wouldn¡¯t even know they were there and so it was
perfect for his and Draco¡¯s¡- whatever-it-was.

Draco had already ordered two butterbeers and was lounging quite
comfortably on his chair, looking out at the patrons who couldn¡¯t
see him watching them. Harry noticed that he seemed interested in
one table in particular as he slid into the seat opposite Draco.

¡°I know that look,¡± Harry observed.

Draco¡¯s eyes flickered to him and then back. ¡°What look?¡±

¡°You¡¯re plotting something. What?¡±

¡°I¡¯m thinking of ways to embarrass Crabe later. He never told

me he was interested in Millicent.¡±

Harry looked over and saw the two Slytherins in question chatting
in a manner that was a little more than friendly.

¡°Well, you didn¡¯t tell him about being a Veriae and me, did
you?¡±

Draco had the grace to look uncomfortable. ¡°No, but that¡¯s

different.¡±

Harry was confused. ¡°How?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯ll think of something.¡±

Harry just laughed and took a sip of butterbeer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron looked a bit worried as he turned to Hermione. ¡°You know I
haven¡¯t seen Harry anywhere today. Are you sure he was OK
with this?¡±
Hermione smiled. ¡°Yes, Ron, I¡¯m sure. He had someone to
spend the day with.¡±

Ron¡¯s eyes widened a bit. ¡°Really?¡±

¡°Really.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A comfortable silence had fallen over the two boys, and Harry
noticed that time had stretched into the late afternoon, when Draco
said, ¡°I don¡¯t hate you anymore, you know.¡±
The silence that followed was not as comfortable. ¡°I don¡¯t hate
you anymore either.¡± Harry finally replied, thinking a bit and then
adding. ¡°In fact, I think I might like you.¡±

He looked up to find silver eyes looking at him with a strange

expression. ¡°Sometimes¡- I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s me or the Veriae
who likes you,¡± Draco said slowly, ¡°but it¡¯s becoming harder to
distinguish between the two of them.¡±

Harry didn¡¯t know exactly how to respond to that, but he didn¡¯t

have to as Hermione and Ron entered the pub, clearly looking for
someone.

¡°They¡¯re looking for you.¡± Draco¡¯s always prominent smirk

was back on his face.

¡°See you back at Hogwarts then?¡± Harry asked.

Draco nodded. ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll end up in my bed tonight,

we¡¯ve been in yours for three days straight.
Harry realized how that would sound to someone who didn¡¯t
know the situation they were in, and laughed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry noticed that Draco was frowning on Monday morning, as the

mail was delivered. He then noticed the owl that sat perched on
Draco¡¯s shoulder and the letter in his hands. Draco scribbled
something at the bottom of the letter and put it back in the
envelope, handing it over to the owl. The owl flew up into the
crowd of other owls all bearing mail and Harry was very surprised
when it dropped a letter in his lap a few minutes later.

Curiously Harry opened the letter, to find another article inside it.
At the top of the article Draco had written: Here¡¯s another one.

Harry looked up to see Draco watching him and nodded minutely.

Draco smirked and turned back to what his year mates were
saying. Harry quickly got out addressed the letter to Luna and
placed it in his bag for Hedwig to bring to her later.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Snitches and Kisses

As her last class of the day ended, Hermione caught Ron¡¯s look
from across the room and nodded discreetly. Ron flashed her a
smile and turned to the door. Hermione sat a few rows in front of
Harry and Ron in Transfiguration, so they were closer to the door
than she was. She smiled slightly when she remembered the small
argument they¡¯d had about seating in the first week of school,
how she¡¯d been adamant that they should take their own notes
instead of always coming to her. After all, when they left
Hogwarts, they wouldn¡¯t be able to come to her with every little
problem. Secretly, Hermione hoped that they would still come to
her with their problems. But they still needed to be somewhat self
sufficient. And so, in their first big argument of the year, Hermione
had moved her seat up three rows from theirs in Transfiguration.
They¡¯d dropped the subject, Hermione secretly thought that Ron
had dropped the subject because he didn¡¯t want to upset her and
that Harry hadn¡¯t really been part of that decision to begin with,
and so Transfiguration was the only class in which Hermione sat
far away from her two best friends.

Ron was, as he had asked in their silent exchange, waiting for her
near the doorway and the two of them began the walk to the Room
of Requirement.

¡°Harry went ahead¡± Ron said awkwardly. He¡¯d been somewhat

awkward around her ever since he¡¯d asked her out. If they were
alone for a while, he would eventually relax but in the short times
that they had alone he was¡- awkward, there was no other word for
it.

¡°That¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t mind walking with you.¡± Hermione

smiled at the redhead, who was fighting back a blush. ¡°In fact, we
could do this more often.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two entered the Room of Requirement to find Draco and
Harry sitting in what had become ¡°Draco¡¯s Corner¡±, talking
about something in low voices. Draco¡¯s only acknowledgement
of their presence in the room was to end whatever conversation
he¡¯d been having with Harry. This was the routine. Whenever
Harry was with Ron or Hermione, Draco made himself
nonexistent, either leaving the room or ignoring them. In fact, the
only time Hermione could remember Draco talking in their
presence was that one time when Harry¡¯d been stuck on the
potions ingredient and Draco had told him what to look for as he
left the room. While such behavior around them could be
considered insulting, Hermione understood that Draco did it so as
not to start any fights with them, and thus upset Harry. Ron still
muttered under his breath whenever Draco purposefully ignored
them, but Hermione didn¡¯t mind being ignored. In fact, she
didn¡¯t know if Draco realized why he was staying away from
Harry¡¯s friends, but she knew the reasoning. Any fights that, say
Draco and Ron, got into would cause Harry to choose a side. So
Draco kept his distance and they allowed him to.
¡°Ready for tonight?¡± Harry asked as he joined them. They had
decided to work on an advanced healing spell for this DA meeting.
It was rather basic, but if you concentrated on it, it would heal and
protect you during a battle or duel. Little things like scrapes and
cuts could be healed instantly if you got good at it.

¡°Yes¡± Hermione replied.

¡°When isn¡¯t she?¡± Ron asked, earning a small shove from the
girl next to him. ¡°So, Harry,¡± Ron asked, shoving Hermione back
¡°When are you going to tell me what made you almost late for
Divination?¡±

Hermione turned to Harry and he could see a lecture beginning to

form. ¡°I wasn¡¯t late, Hermione, I was almost late. There¡¯s a
difference. And I¡¯ve got a good reason for it.¡±

¡°You had better, Mr. Potter.¡± Hermione scolded, sounding

strangely like a certain Transfiguration teacher when she did so.

And so Harry began to explain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The DA meeting had progressed to the dueling stage, with all of
the members trying out the continuous healing spell in a duel
setting. Because everyone needed to try out the spell, the staged
duels were shorter than normal, timed and without a true victor.
From his section of the room, Draco looked up from his Potions
studying to see Harry ascending the dueling platform. Sighing
slightly, Draco rested the open book on his lap and watched the
duel. No one noticed this extra pair of eyes.

In the first few weeks that Draco had been sitting in the corner,
there had been a lot of speculation about his presence. But once the
other DA members figured out that he wasn¡¯t going to do
anything, they left him alone. In fact, most forgot about his
presence during the meetings. Which suited him just fine.

His eyes watched as the duel progressed. It was obvious that this
was one of those times when Harry was in his element, but still he
was wary.

Harry dodged a bolt of blue light as he concentrated on keeping the

healing spell inside his skin, something that was easy when you
didn¡¯t have four other people to watch. Ginny sent a curse at him
and he jumped to right¡- right into another spell of red light.

His head came up to see the spell, just inches from his skin, veer
off course and spin, heading towards the boy who had cast it.
Harry blinked. He hadn¡¯t done that¡-

His eyes drifted off to the corner of the room directly behind the
boy who¡¯d cast the spell at him. They locked onto Draco¡¯s eyes
and Harry saw the source of that protection. ¡°That¡¯s cheating,¡±
he mouthed in Draco¡¯s direction, ducking under another well
placed curse. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Draco shrug,
uncaring.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day Ron came down to breakfast looking like Christmas
had just been canceled. Seeing Harry¡¯s questioning look, he
shook his head, sitting down in his customary seat across from
Harry.
¡°Don¡¯t ask mate, you¡¯ll see soon enough.¡±

And Harry did see, or hear, when Hermione came down to

breakfast a few minutes later.

¡°Harry,¡± she asked as she began to load her plate with food. ¡°Do
you know when exams are?¡±

Exams? Harry hadn¡¯t even thought about exams. They were¡-

four months away after all. ¡°They¡¯re four months away,
Hermione, give or take a week.¡± This was the last week in
January¡- so yeah, about four months.

¡°Exactly! Four months! Only four months!¡± Hermione said this

as if it was a bad thing.

¡°That¡¯s a lot of time Hermione-¡° Harry started.

¡°I missed a whole month of studying! Normally I start when there

are five months left to the exams, but I missed almost all of
January!¡±

¡°What?¡± Harry mouthed, disbelieving, to Ron, who shrugged.

They would never understand Hermione¡¯s logic when it came to
exams.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry flopped down on the couch, completely bored. He had
excused himself from breakfast, leaving Ron to Hermione, and
found himself with an entire Saturday of potential boredom
Normally he had something to do, an essay or something, but
today he found himself with no school work at all hanging over his
head.
Draco, who was sitting in a chair across from him, didn¡¯t
comment on his state of boredom, if the blond even realized that
Harry was in the room. His head was bent over some parchment of
homework, an open book lying on the armrest of the chair.

Watching Draco calculating some angle--or something that looked

like an angle¡- whatever it was it was some form of Arithmancy--
from where he stood, Harry thought of something to do with this
free Saturday afternoon. He turned back into the bedroom and
sought out a small box from the depths of his trunk. He hadn¡¯t
tried out the practice snitch he¡¯d gotten at Christmas yet.
Grabbing his Firebolt in the other hand, he headed back into the
other room.

¡°Draco, let¡¯s go play Quidditch.¡±

Draco looked up with a look that clearly stated that Harry was
approaching insanity.

¡°Come on It¡¯s a beautiful day and I have no homework.¡± He

pointed at the Arithmancy (or whatever it was) with the handle of
his broom. ¡°And I bet that isn¡¯t due until Friday, knowing you.
So let¡¯s go outside.¡±

Draco sat back against the chair. ¡°And suddenly seeing two rivals
playing a semi-friendly game of Quidditch will look normal to
everyone else in Hogwarts?¡± he drawled.
Harry pouted trust Draco to find some problem with his idea.
¡°We¡¯ll find some place that they can¡¯t get to then.¡±

Draco thought for a moment.

¡°Come on, I want to see how I do against a Veriae.¡± Harry was

almost begging.

A slow smile played with Draco¡¯s lips. ¡°All right, you¡¯re on.
Meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in ten minutes.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry followed Draco through the Forbidden Forest down a path
that he had never been down before ¡- if it could truly be called a
path. It seemed, though, that Draco knew exactly where he was
going, and in a few minutes the two boys had reached an
overgrown clearing that was only a little smaller than the Hogwarts
Qudditch pitch. Sunlight splintered down through an overgrowth
of leaves, turning the grass a golden green color.
¡°Not bad¡± Harry murmured in appreciation.

¡°I used this clearing when I was learning how to fly¡± Draco
offered in explanation.

¡°So you can fly with only your wings now?¡± Harry asked. ¡°I see
you didn¡¯t bring your broom.¡±

¡°My wings have reached their proportional size. They¡¯ll continue

to grow as I do, but there won¡¯t be any more drastic changes. So,
yes, they¡¯ll support my weight in flight.¡±

Both boys removed their outer school robes, draping them over a
nearby tree branch. Harry then began fiddling with the practice
snitch¡¯s controls.
Practice snitches worked exactly like real snitches, except that one
could restrict where they went. It wouldn¡¯t do, after all, to be
chasing the snitch all over the Forbidden Forest itself. Harry
estimated the size of the clearing, thinking there was maybe 1/8
difference between the clearing and the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.

Draco met him in about the middle of the clearing, holding a

practice bludger. Practice bludgers were controlled the same way
as practice snitches, but you could also set how hard they would
knock into you.

¡°I set it to be reasonably annoying.¡± Draco smirked as he let it

go. The bludger arched out of sight, into the treetops, but both boys
could hear it moving over their heads.

¡°Ready?¡± Harry held out the snitch.

¡°Always.¡±

Both boys let the snitch go. Harry then mounted his Firebolt and
kicked off the ground as Draco leapt upward, wings extending as
he did so.

Almost instantly the bludger arched down through the leafy

canopy and whizzed by Draco¡¯s ear. It headed for the ground and
then arched upwards to follow after Harry for a while as he tried to
evade it.

Harry had never considered how absolutely wonderful beaters

were, as when there was no way to deflect the bludger. You had to
evade it until it got bored of you and went after the other player.

¡°This is ¡®mildly annoying¡¯?¡± Harry yelled to Draco after the

fifth time he had to evade the bludger.
¡°Yes. We could set it worse if you want.¡±

¡°No, this is fine.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione was buried in the library, all of her course books (and
even some that weren¡¯t required for the courses she took) spread
out over the table in front of her. She was writing furiously,
working on some study guide, and Ron approached the table with
some trepidation. She had been working since the end of breakfast
and it was now late in the afternoon. Even Hermione would need a
break after that.
¡°Umm¡- Hermione?¡± Ron asked quietly.

Hermione made some sound of acknowledgement, her hand never

stopping the furious speed that it was working at.

¡°You know, you¡¯ve been working since the morning, and it¡¯s
about four right now¡-¡± a nod was the only thing that let Ron
know she was even listening to him. Somewhat more boldly than
he felt, he continued, ¡°And anyone would need a break after that¡-
so I wondered if you¡- might want that walk now?¡±

The writing slowed and stopped. Ron braced for a lecture on how
work was more important, blah blah, and was surprised when
Hermione put down the quill. The admonishment he¡¯d been
waiting for turned out to be a smile and a ¡°That sounds like a
good idea. Let me clean this up, and drop my books off in the
dorm, and then we¡¯ll take that walk.¡±

As Hermione began to put her books back into her bag, Ron
blinked in amazement. Not that he was complaining though.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry ducked under the bludger and twirled into the greenery
above the clearing, successfully losing the annoying thing. Of
course, now he couldn¡¯t see where he was because of the leaves
and dove back down¡- right into the path of a rather large tree limb.
¡°Watch out!¡± He heard Draco yell and he pulled on the handle of
the Firebolt in an attempt to swerve out of the way. It wasn¡¯t
enough.

The air seemed to shift around him, and he was pushed under the
branch. He could hear Draco hiss as one of his wings scraped the
underside of the branch and both boys fell towards the ground and
landed in an undignified heap. They rolled, Harry losing control of
his Firebolt, which skittered away a few feet before coming to a
standstill. Harry braced his arms against the soft grassy ground to
fight their momentum and the two stopped with Harry¡¯s arms on
either side of Draco¡¯s head, their legs entangled in the soft grass,
Draco¡¯s wings spread out on the grass around them, and his
mouth a few inches above Draco¡¯s own.

Harry froze, his eyes locking on the silver-gray pools that were
looking up at him with no trace of a sneer. Just looking.

The clearing, the forest itself, was silent, waiting for what would
happen next. Slowly, as if fast movement would break the stillness,
one hand rose to caress the nape of Harry¡¯s neck, pulling him
down slightly as Draco¡¯s body rose underneath him. Their lips
met in the silence of the clearing. Harry relaxed and, leaning into
the kiss, turned chaste more passionate.

Draco¡¯s wings, silken curtains of night, came up to wrap around

Harry¡¯s body in a way so similar to his dreams. Draco¡¯s mouth
began to explore his neck, trailing wet kisses down to his collar
bone before returning to Harry¡¯s mouth again.
Harry¡¯s fingers trailed down the sharp aristocratic jaw line and
down to the nape of Draco¡¯s neck to tangle in the soft platinum
strands. His mouth followed his fingers to Draco¡¯s ear, pausing to
whisper, ¡°Is this you or the Veriae?¡±

Silver eyes caught his own. ¡°Both.¡±

¡°Good.¡± And any other words Harry might have said were lost to
Draco¡¯s mouth on his own.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Eye of Newt and Slips of Yew

Harry couldn¡¯t contain a smirk rivaling Draco¡¯s patented one

when the Daily Prophet belatedly began to report the attacks. By
now it was obvious that they were Death Eater attacks. One of the
more recent ones had been the destruction of a small muggle town
and the Dark Mark had been prominent in the sky. No one could
pretend now, that they were just freak accidents or technical
malfunctions, at least not in the Wizarding World. Still, as the
number of attacks grew, the students began to get visibly tense and
edgy. Parents began writing more often, just to check that their son
or daughter was safe and to say that they themselves were safe.
Whispers in the halls about the attacks became louder as students
wondered whose family would be the first to be attacked.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco woke to a strange numb sensation in his left leg and realized
that he couldn¡¯t feel anything lower than his thigh. Blinking
blearily in the dim light, he attempted to sit up only to find that he
couldn¡¯t move much in that way either. The cause of this was the
other person in the bed, who was still sleeping soundly, his arms
wrapped around Draco¡¯s torso and his legs wrapped around
Draco¡¯s left leg.
¡°Potter,¡± Draco gently pushed Harry. No reaction. ¡°Harry.¡± He
tried again.

Harry muttered something that he couldn¡¯t understand into his

stomach.

¡°Harry, I need you to unwind yourself from my left leg. I can¡¯t

feel it any more.¡±

With the effort of one who was more asleep than awake, Harry
rolled slightly to the left¡- the opposite direction of what Draco had
been aiming for.

¡°Harry, having your lower body situated between my legs does

not help me get out of bed faster.¡±

Draco heard a more intelligent mumble this time, ¡°Can¡¯t believe

you said that with a straight face,¡± but ignored it. Again Harry
rolled to the left and off of Draco¡¯s legs entirely. However, he
was still using Draco¡¯s upper body as a pillow.

¡°Harry-¡° Draco began to point this out but was cut off.

¡°Do you have to move?¡± Harry mumbled and then added

something unintelligible along the lines of ¡°M¡¯sleepy.¡±

Draco pondered this. It was still the weekend and he didn¡¯t have
to go anywhere¡- well, except down to breakfast but he could get
food later.

¡°Fine, but you owe me one.¡±

Harry¡¯s reply was again a mumble of things Draco couldn¡¯t

make out, but in a few minutes he too had drifted back to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron and Hermione stood outside the portrait of Medusa, unsure of
whether to knock or wait for either Harry or Draco to grant them
entrance.
¡°If you want to get in, you¡¯re going to have to wait a while
unless you have the password¡± Medusa commented, inspecting
her fingernails as if expecting to see dirt underneath them.

¡°Can you tell them that we¡¯re here?¡± Hermione asked. When
Harry hadn¡¯t shown up at breakfast, she had worriedly dragged
Ron down to the dungeons to find out if their friend was OK.

¡°No, I can¡¯t.¡±

¡°Why?¡± Ron asked.

¡°Because I don¡¯t have access to the bedroom,¡± came the tart

reply. ¡°And that¡¯s where they¡¯ve been all morning.¡±

¡°Too much information!¡± Ron yelped, covering his ears as if he

expected the picture to launch into sordid details.

In a tone akin to Hermione¡¯s, the picture spoke. ¡°Had they been

doing what you are suggesting, young man, I would have found an
excuse to go visit another portrait.¡±

Ron shrugged, admitting that the portrait had a point.

¡°So they¡¯ve been sleeping this whole time?¡± Hermione asked.

¡°From what I can tell, yes. Either that or lounging around doing
nothing.¡±
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Draco, do you have to use my back as a desk?¡± Harry muttered,
feeling the quill moving lightly over his back as he spoke.
¡°Do you continue to want to use me as a pillow? Then yes. You
are the nearest flat surface, after all.¡±

¡°Do you have to be doing homework now?¡± Harry¡¯s words

were spoken in a truly pitiful whine.

¡°This isn¡¯t homework.¡±

¡°Then what is it?¡±

¡°It¡¯s a list of all the things I¡¯m going to have to study before
exams at the end of the year.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°Well, just in Potions. I couldn¡¯t care less about most of the

other classes that require memorization. Ancient Runes and
Arithmancy are pretty straight forward so I don¡¯t need to worry
about them.¡±

¡°You¡¯re starting to study for exams now?¡±

¡°No, I¡¯m making a list now.¡±

¡°Oh good. I was starting to worry.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll start actually studying tomorrow.¡±

A muffled groan was all that was heard from Harry.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron finally resorted to banging on the picture frame quite loudly,
to alert the boys inside to his and Hermione¡¯s presence. A few
minutes later the portrait opened to reveal Harry, looking as if he
had just crawled out of bed and pulled some clothes on, which in
truth he had.
¡°Morning,¡± he said, trying to stifle a yawn.

¡°Good morning Harry.¡± Hermione beamed at him. Harry

mentally wondered if it was illegal somewhere for someone to be
that wide awake mid-morning on a Sunday.

¡°Did you sleep at all?¡± Ron asked, noting Harry¡¯s state.

¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just tired this morning.¡±

Ron nodded in understanding.

¡°Good. We¡¯ll get you some food and then we¡¯ll start
studying.¡± Hermione ushered Harry out of the room and towards
the kitchens.

Harry¡¯s groan matched the look on Ron¡¯s face. ¡°You and

Draco.¡± Harry muttered under his breath.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°You know, Hermione said something strange today.¡±
Draco lazily looked over at Harry with an expression that clearly
stated he didn¡¯t care what Granger had said. Harry ignored the
look and continued anyway.

¡°She said that the attacks seemed random, all over the place,
almost as if they weren¡¯t coordinated at all.¡±
¡°So?¡± Draco drawled. ¡°They still cause terror and mayhem,
what¡¯s the difference between coordinated attacks or spontaneous
ones?¡±

¡°It just doesn¡¯t seem like something Voldemort-¡° Draco

flinched ¡°-would do. It would seem to me that he would plan out
the attacks for a maximum effect, or to send a message, or
something. I couldn¡¯t picture him just telling the Death Eaters to
go off and have fun with random carnage¡-¡±

¡°The fact that you can picture the Dark Lord at all is rather
freaky¡± Draco murmured ¡°But I have to agree with your point. If
we can¡¯t see the message behind the attacks, then I assume he
isn¡¯t finished writing it out yet.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry sat in the dark for a long time thinking about what Draco
had said. He knew that there was some guiding force behind these
attacks, he just knew it. But there was no focus. It really seemed
that Voldemort just took a map and pointed to a random town or
village and said ¡°attack there¡± or something like that. The only
attack that might have given any message at all was the first attack,
the one on London itself. That was more the ¡°I¡¯m here and
waiting to destroy you¡± type of attack he could¡- expect¡- from
Voldemort. But these other attacks¡- Now Harry couldn¡¯t start to
say he knew the name of every town that existed in Britain, but
he¡¯d never even known some of these places existed. So why
they¡¯d garnered Voldemort¡¯s attention was beyond him.

But maybe Draco was right. Well, Harry knew that there were
more attacks to come, but maybe the point of this particular slew
of attacks wasn¡¯t obvious yet because a few of them were
missing¡- As horrible as that logic was, it did have a ring of truth
that Harry couldn¡¯t ignore. And if there were some attacks
missing, and they could figure out the pattern or message first¡-
then maybe something could be done to stop the attack before it
started.

Gently easing himself out of the sleeping blonde¡¯s hold, Harry

worked his way out of the bedroom. A map. He needed a map, a
very detailed one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco awoke the next morning to find Harry curled under him¡-
somehow. The other boy didn¡¯t even stir as Draco moved out of
bed and made his way towards the bathroom, didn¡¯t make a sound
or a movement when Draco came back out, or show any signs of
waking when Draco crossed back through the bedroom. He must
be really tired, Draco thought. Wonder how late he was up?
Draco would have then gone down to breakfast, but he saw
something on the table near the couch. It was a map¡- with ink
splotches on it. Was this what Harry had been up to last night?
Harry obviously hadn¡¯t drawn the map, unless he was a
geographical artistic genius that no one knew about, but he might
have added the ink splotches. But why?

Draco looked at the map more closely, tracing the path of the ink
blotches up the isle with his eyes. These were the location of all of
Voldemort¡¯s attacks. They formed a semi-circle that traveled
almost the entire length of the isle. His own words came back to
him from the night before. The attacks were centered around
something¡- but not London or any other important city¡- But if
one were to extend the circle out into the ocean where there were
no places to attack, one could find the diameter and from that find
the center. Draco did so, his finger coming to rest on one point of
land. His stomach dropped as his mind registered where the attacks
were focused around. Even though there was no marking on the
map for the building was unplottable, it was a place Draco knew
well. It was Malfoy Manor.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Letter in Blood

As the first week of February started, Hermione rolled into

studying-for-exam mode with a relish that Harry and Ron
wouldn¡¯t even try to match. They suffered in silence through her
insistence that they create study-guides for themselves so that they
could prepare for the exams that were only months away. Ron, on
Wednesday, was persuaded to start his own list of things to study.
Harry believed this was not for the good of his exam grade, but for
the good of his budding relationship with Hermione. Harry, of
course, was safe from Hermione¡¯s cajoling. He would merely say
that Draco had them covered.

And Draco was also studying, although a whole lot more passively
than Hermione was. His idea of studying involved going over the
material a little each night before bed until the exams actually
came, instead of constantly working to re-memorize everything in
one sitting at the library. Of course, Draco didn¡¯t care if Harry
studied or not. But since Draco and Hermione never compared
notes on Harry¡¯s study habits, he slipped through as if exams
were the months away that they were.

Harry was getting used to Draco falling asleep after he did, the
light from the blonde¡¯s wand slightly illuminating the room.

¡°What is it tonight?¡± Harry asked as he slid into Draco¡¯s bed.

Draco looked over at Harry¡¯s bed on the other side of the room
and then at the boy next to him with a strange expression.
¡°Potions. I¡¯m reviewing Dragon¡¯s Bane. Why are you over
here?¡±
¡°Well, I thought there was no real point in getting into different
beds anymore.¡± Harry shrugged as if it were obvious. ¡°We¡¯re
going to end up in the same bed by morning anyway. Besides, if
I¡¯m over here I can hear you read out loud.¡±

¡°And why would I read out loud?¡±

¡°I noticed that your mouth moves when you study things, as if
you¡¯re speaking them. Since it¡¯s something like Potions, I
figured you could just read it out loud and then I could listen until I
fall asleep.¡±

¡°You think you¡¯ll fall asleep while listening to potions

ingredients?¡± Draco asked, amused.

¡°Well, if it weren¡¯t for Snape, I¡¯d gladly sleep through the

morning Potions classes.¡±

¡°Fine. Get comfortable then.¡±

Harry found it a lot harder to fall asleep than he thought. It was

relaxing to listen to Draco¡¯s voice go over something that he was
interested in. And while Harry felt the tug of sleep overtake him,
something in Draco¡¯s voice always seemed to call him back to
what the other boy was saying.

Draco was slightly surprised when Harry sleepily asked him to go

over what he was explaining again. After a moment¡¯s pause
Draco repeated the steps to adding the powdered leopard canines
while stirring the potion, first clockwise four turns and then
counterclockwise five turns. Harry nodded sleepily and Draco
continued with the instructions, surprised that Harry was actually
listening.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron grumpily surveyed the headlines of the Daily Prophet,
noticing that an attack was once again the highlight of the day.
Wordlessly, he passed it to Hermione and proceeded to pay
complete attention to his eggs as if they were the cause of the
constant flow of things that he should be sure to remember for
such-and-such exam that came from the brunette next to him.
Hermione didn¡¯t even look at the headline, passing the paper to
Harry as she continued her explanation of the second Troll and
Goblin war.

Harry looked over the headline with a frown. Another attack.

Blocking out Hermione¡¯s explanation of the Troll leader whose
name he couldn¡¯t hope to pronounce, much less spell correctly on
an exam, he began to read the description of the attack. An
orphanage had been attacked. Over one hundred muggle children,
about his age and younger, had died. No one had yet been able to
find out how the orphanage had been attacked, the building had
been burned to the ground before anyone had seen the Dark Mark
in the sky. Voldemort wasn¡¯t hiding it now, Harry thought. It¡¯s
obvious now that they¡¯re Death Eater attacks, but there¡¯s still no
point. The orphanage had been a few miles outside London, and
other than the sheer horridness of it, Harry could see no other gain
that this particular attack gave Voldemort. Maybe that¡¯s the point,
Harry wondered, as he put the paper back down on the table. He
doesn¡¯t have to do these attacks, and yet he¡¯s going to do them
anyway to show exactly how powerful he is.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco had a very different reason for
Voldemort¡¯s attack. He pulled out the map that he had
shamelessly taken from his and Harry¡¯s rooms without telling
Harry and located the spot on the map where the orphanage had
been. It fell exactly on the circle he had drawn before.
It¡¯s got to have something to do with Malfoy Manor, Draco
thought. There was no other explanation. But what was
Voldemort¡¯s goal? He could attack Malfoy Manor directly. The
wards would kill a lot of Death Eaters before he got to the gates
but he could still do it. But what was he waiting for? All of the
attacks had been aimed at muggles. A few wizards had been killed
as well, but they were a few in a long list of muggles. If Voldemort
meant to intimidate his father, then he was going about it the
wrong way because his father wouldn¡¯t care if muggles were
attacked. Another thought passed through his head. Maybe the
Dark Lord wanted to make it look as if his father had helped plan
the attacks by placing them in such a way that it looked like
Malfoy Manor had to be part of the attacks.

Frowning slightly, Draco began to consider his options. These

types of thoughts could not be written down in a letter. He could
tell his father any theories he had, and yet he could be sure that his
father would not answer them, lest the letter be intercepted and his
reply used against him. There was no way to get to Malfoy Manor
from Hogwarts unless he used one of the teacher¡¯s floos¡- if they
were hooked up to begin with. But he would have to have a
discussion with his father somehow and the next Hogsmead
weekend was weeks away, too far away for him to simply ask his
father to meet him in the Three Broomstick to discuss the attacks.
He would have to talk with his father much sooner than that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape was surprised to see Draco standing outside his quarters just
before curfew that night. He was even more surprised when Draco
asked if he could firespeak Malfoy Manor.
¡°I believe that now would not be the best time, Draco.¡± The boy
opened his mouth to protest. ¡°Not for you or your father.¡±
Draco had not been expecting that. ¡°Godfather,¡± and Draco
placed special significance on the title, ¡°I need to speak with my
father.¡±

¡°About the attacks?¡±

¡°Yes.¡±

Snape sighed and ushered Draco into the room. Closing the door,
he placed a Silencing Charm on the room.

¡°Draco you cannot firespeak Malfoy Manor.¡±

¡°But-¡°

¡°You cannot, because no one can.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°Draco, do you think that your father hasn¡¯t figured out what¡¯s
going on? Malfoy Manor is closed up like a Gringotts vault. All of
the fireplaces have been cut off from the floo network until further
notice.¡±

¡°But what if You-Know-Who attacks Malfoy Manor?¡± Draco

asked.

¡°Then we¡¯ll have to hope that your father knows a way off the
grounds that does not involve a fireplace or the front gate¡± Snape
replied sarcastically. Then, more seriously, ¡°Also, Draco, even if
you could to talk to your father, I doubt he would let you.¡±

¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because right now it¡¯s too dangerous. Not for him.¡° Snape cut
off Draco¡¯s protest. ¡°Draco, Narcissa is no longer your father¡¯s
wife. He has no control over her actions any more.¡±

¡°What does that have to do with it?¡±

¡°Think about it Draco. Narcissa knows you¡¯re an Alter Veritas,

just like Lucius. Being married to him, even though she was not his
Veriae intended, she knows more about Veriae than other wizards.
And at Christmas, or so Lucius tells me, she found out who was
your intended.¡±

Draco¡¯s mind reeled as he realized his godfather spoke the truth.

His mother had seen Harry at Malfoy Manor at Christmas. She
would have known that he was Draco¡¯s intended.

¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s too dangerous Draco¡± Snape finished.

¡°Because if you do something stupid and the Dark Lord captures
you, Potter would go after you.¡±

¡°Harry wouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Draco¡¯s voice wavered, uncertain.

¡°He wouldn¡¯t?¡± Snape raised an eyebrow.

¡°No.¡± Draco¡¯s voice sounded more certain that time.

¡°I would disagree with you, Draco.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was on Monday that Draco first realized something was very
wrong. To start off he was late to breakfast that morning and
barely had time to eat, let alone read his father¡¯s customary letter,
so he tucked the letter away in his bag to read later.
After classes that day, Draco curled up in front of the fireplace to
read the letter before starting on his schoolwork. The first thing he
noticed was that the letter was folded outward, so that the words
could be seen. His father never folded letters outward, because
then other people could read the writing as the intended recipient
was opening it. Still, Draco continued without giving it much
thought.

As Draco read he got more and more worried. His father never
wrote to him in this way. Yes it sounded like his father, and
anyone else would not have been fooled, but Draco knew better.
Reading the letter was like walking down Diagon Ally in public
with his father. The words radiated the prestige of the Malfoy
name and none of the emotions that his father might have felt
while writing to his son.

The letter was ripped from Draco¡¯s hands by a white-faced Harry

Potter as Draco finished reading his father¡¯s signature. Just
¡®Your father, Lucius Malfoy¡¯. His father always signed his
letters to Draco, ¡®You¡¯re loving father, Lucius Malfoy¡¯
because such things could not be said in public.

¡°Harry what are you-¡°

Harry turned the letter around wordlessly and Draco suddenly

realized the reason the letter was folded outward instead of inward.
Through the thick parchment, folded outward, you could not tell
that the back of the parchment was smeared in blood.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Black Truth, Black Wings

The Room of Requirement had made itself into a cave. The walls
were limestone, with a low ceiling and a moss covered floor. The
room was very small, so small in fact that the three people inside
the room had to duck to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling.
The cave was what the room thought of as the perfect place to
speak of secrets, and so the three Gryffindors settled down as
comfortably as they could against the cold stone.

¡°There¡¯s something wrong with Draco¡± Harry said, looking

down at the moss as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever
seen.

Neither Ron nor Hermione were fooled by his antics. Ron, though,
was puzzled at Harry¡¯s words. ¡°But he seems¡-er, fine to me.
Well¡- he doesn¡¯t act any differently than he normally does.¡±

¡°No, he¡¯s more nervous than usual¡± Hermione observed.

¡°Exactly¡± Harry said. ¡°It¡¯s like he¡¯s planning something that

he doesn¡¯t want anyone to find out. And it started after he got that
letter.¡±

¡°But that was a week ago!¡± Ron protested.

¡°Yes, and he¡¯s received two other letters from his father, both as
false as the first one¡± Harry explained.

¡°False letters?¡±

¡°That¡¯s all he¡¯ll tell me about them. That they aren¡¯t really
from his father.¡±

Hermione frowned as if thinking. ¡°But why wouldn¡¯t his father

write to Malfoy?¡±

¡°If he couldn¡¯t,¡± Harry replied, looking up at his friends for the

first time since the conversation had begun.
¡°But why couldn¡¯t he write to Malfoy?¡± Ron asked. ¡°He¡¯s
done it for five years, so what¡¯s different now?¡±

Harry shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Draco doesn¡¯t know. And no

one who knows is telling.¡±

¡°Harry, what does Draco think is going on?¡± Hermione asked.

¡°What exactly does he say?¡±

¡°About the letters?¡± Hermione nodded. ¡°Well, he says that there

are certain things his father always puts in a letter, certain phrases,
the way he signs his name, and so on¡- I don¡¯t remember the
exact details. And he says that all these things are missing from the
last three letters.¡±

¡°But hasn¡¯t he done a spell to make sure that it¡¯s his father¡¯s
handwriting?¡± Hermione asked.

¡°First thing he does. It¡¯s his father¡¯s writing, but not his
father¡¯s style.¡±

¡°Has there been any other¡- blood¡- on the letters?¡± Ron asked.

¡°No. Not since the first one.¡±

¡°I think I see what he thinks¡± Hermione stated. ¡°His father has
always written to him, and so if something happened¡- like for
instance, if his father got hurt, then the absence of letters would tell
him immediately that something was wrong. But there isn¡¯t an
absence of letters. Yet, these recent ones are very different from
what he¡¯s used to. There are, as he says, certain elements missing
to them.¡±

¡°And then there¡¯s the blood¡± Ron added.

Hermione nodded. ¡°Yes. I think that Lucius Malfoy is trying to
tell his son that something is wrong.¡±

¡°Then why doesn¡¯t he come out and say it?¡± Ron asked.

¡°We must assume for some reason that he can¡¯t.¡±

¡°But what¡¯s going to stop Lucius Malfoy from doing

something?¡± Ron looked skeptical.

¡°Voldemort¡± Harry spoke suddenly.

¡°But we¡¯d know if You-er¡-Voldemort was doing something¡-

wouldn¡¯t we?¡± Ron asked.

Harry was silent. He didn¡¯t know what Voldemort was doing.

After all, he hadn¡¯t had a vision since he¡¯d bonded to Draco.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another thing Harry noticed about Draco¡¯s change in attitude was
that the blond was silent. Yes, in public he acted like the Draco
everyone knew and expected¡- but when there was no one around
except Harry, he didn¡¯t speak unless Harry started the
conversation. It was like he always had something on his mind
now. And Harry couldn¡¯t find out what.
It wasn¡¯t like he could bluntly ask, ¡°What are you planning?¡±
because he wouldn¡¯t get an answer¡- or at least, he wouldn¡¯t get
the truth. And because Draco was a Slytherin, Harry doubted he¡¯d
find any evidence of what Draco was plotting just lying around.

He would just have to wait until Draco told him¡- or until Draco
acted on whatever it was he was planning. Harry didn¡¯t like
waiting but he forced himself not to call Draco on his behavior.
It wasn¡¯t like Draco could do anything drastic, like actually going
to Malfoy Manor. Draco had told him that all the fireplaces in
Malfoy Manor had been closed off, so Draco couldn¡¯t floo there.
And there was no point in walking down to Hogsmead and getting
on the train because then Draco¡¯d be stuck in London and unable
to floo home. Without Lucius trying to bring his son home, Draco
was stuck in Hogwarts. And Harry doubted that Lucius wanted his
son to come home right now, doubted that very much indeed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry woke up cold. This didn¡¯t matter that much to him because
his rooms were in the dungeons now and this part of the castle
tended to be cooler than other places. But what bothered him was
what he realized once he got past the cold part. He had woken up
in the middle of the night. Alone. Draco was no where to be found.
And judging from the temperature of Draco¡¯s side of the bed¡- he
hadn¡¯t been in bed for a long time.

¡°Tempus,¡± Harry muttered, and was informed that it was three

o¡¯clock in the morning.

Not good. Harry began to pull on clothing while trying to piece

together what he could about the situation.

Don¡¯t panic, he told himself. You¡¯re just overreacting.

But somehow he knew that he wasn¡¯t. If Draco had fallen asleep

at all then he would still have been in the same bed as Harry.And
Harry had seen Draco sleeping last night before he had gone to
bed.
Harry felt a cold wave wash over him as he realized that last night
was Friday. Today would be Saturday. That meant that no teachers
would realize Draco was missing until Monday, if Draco was gone.
And it wouldn¡¯t have been that hard for Draco to get rid of his
friends for a weekend. Tell them that he would be studying or
something.

Harry bit his lip. This was beginning to look bad.

But where would Draco go? Another part of his mind asked. It
wasn¡¯t as if he could just waltz out of Hogwarts at any time of
day or night. And though instinctively Harry¡¯s first idea was that
somehow Draco had gone to Malfoy Manor, it just wasn¡¯t
logically possible. No¡- there just had to be another explanation.
Harry continued this like a mantra. He would find Draco and it
would be something stupid, though what Draco would wake up for
in the middle of the night was beyond Harry, but there had to be
something. And it was probably something obvious and stupid and
Harry would feel really idiotic when he found out, but that¡¯s what
would happen.

Yes, that is what would happen.

Harry fumbled on the nightstand for his wand and cast a quick
Lumos to help light up the room. It proved inadequate, however,
because halfway out of the room he tripped.

Harry hissed in pain as he rolled over to see what had caught his
toe. It was a book, a rather thick book. It was one of Draco¡¯s
¡®independent reading¡¯ potions books. Harry fought back a
groan. As he¡¯d tripped he¡¯d bent about half of the pages, not to
mention the cover. He would somehow have to explain that to
Draco.
Harry picked up the book and placed it on the nearest surface that
was not the floor, his bed. Maybe there was a spell to unbend
pages¡-

Harry winced as he surveyed the damage more closely. Somehow

his foot had dislodged a page from the middle of the book, right
where the bended pages started. Carefully he opened the book to
that page and looked at it.

Harry brought the page near the light of his wand and blinked. This
wasn¡¯t potions. This was the map he¡¯d made a few days ago that
he thought he¡¯d misplaced. Draco must have picked it up.

Harry carefully made his way out of the bedroom to look at the
map in better light. Draco had added to it, creating a circle using
the attacks farthest away from each other as a diameter. By doing
this, he¡¯d also found the circle¡¯s center. Harry frowned slightly
as he looked at the area Draco had repeatedly starred in different
color inks. There was nothing there, at least not on the map. But it
had some significance to Draco, it must, for him to indicate it as so
important.

Maybe Draco thought that the center of the attacks would be where
Voldemort was hiding or launching the attacks? But Draco
wouldn¡¯t do something so¡- Gryffindorish as to try and sneak into
Voldemort¡¯s headquarters¡- even if he thought that stopping the
attacks would stop the lockdown his father had on Malfoy Manor.

Harry folded the parchment again and put it in his pocket. Now
was not the time to be thinking ¡®what ifs¡¯. There was still a
chance that Draco was in the school and Harry had to find that out
first.

Harry crossed to the corner of the room where he¡¯d thrown his
books the night before and pulled the Marauder¡¯s Map from his
bag. As he spoke the words to make the map spring to life he
hoped that a dot labeled ¡°Draco Malfoy¡± would appear
somewhere, anywhere, in Hogwarts.

But he wasn¡¯t too surprised when it didn¡¯t.

Now what? Harry thought desperately. He could wake Ron, but it

was too early to get Hermione out of the Gryffindor girls¡¯
dormitory. It wasn¡¯t like he could just walk in there after all, like
he could the boys¡¯ dormitory. Better let Ron sleep, he decided
finally. If he couldn¡¯t find Draco by the time his friends woke up,
then he would ask for their help.

Harry sat down on the sofa, idly staring into the fireplace. He had
to think like Draco¡- yet how could he? He didn¡¯t know what else
Draco knew about the situation.

OK Harry, he thought, hypothesize. If it¡¯s right, you¡¯ll find facts

to support it once Hermione¡¯s up to help you.

So¡-. Worst case scenario first. Draco was caught by Voldemort¡-

no, worst case was that Draco was dead. But that was out. Harry
would be able to feel if Draco was dead or hurt or in danger. No,
he wasn¡¯t in any pain so Draco must be safe¡- or physically well
or something like that. So, no Voldemort and no death.

Then, the next worst¡- or hardest to deal with, was that Draco had
gone to Malfoy Manor¡- somehow. Even with Malfoy Manor
disconnected from the floo system and unplotable¡-

Unplotable! Harry grabbed at the map again, a streak of terror

snaking down his spine. Where was Malfoy Manor? Draco had
never really said where¡- no one ever had. Somewhere in England,
but that wasn¡¯t much help was it. But he knew that Malfoy Manor
was big so logically you¡¯d need a really large amount of land,
so¡-

The area Draco had starred was a large plot of land with nothing
on it.

Harry bit his lip. It made sense, but it was just a theory. He would
need to prove somehow that what Draco had starred was in fact
Malfoy Manor. But the number one candidate to ask about
anything Malfoy was not in Hogwarts. So then who could he ask?

Only one name came to him and Harry decided that the Fates must
really hate him if he had to wake this particular person up at¡- three
forty-five in the morning.

¡°Snape¡¯s gonna kill me¡± Harry muttered at the fire¡¯s flames,

but they didn¡¯t seem to care.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry looked at the door to the Potions classroom with more than a
few feelings of misgiving. If all the classrooms were set up like the
Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, then Snape¡¯s personal
quarters would be at the back of his classroom¡- or to the right of
his classroom or connected to his classroom in some way.
Harry grasped the door knob and willed his hand to turn it. The
door opened soundlessly. Harry stepped into the classroom and
cast his wand around in the dark, looking for a door that didn¡¯t
lead to the supply room.

There was only one other door to the Potions classroom, other than
the doorway Harry stood in and the door to the supply room
(which Harry knew didn¡¯t have any doors inside it). It was a
rather modest door over on the Slytherin side of the room that
Harry had never seen opened during all his years at Hogwarts.
Well, that looks a bit promising, he thought as he crossed the
room.

¡°And what exactly do you think you are doing in my classroom at

this time of the night?¡± A voice asked from the shadows behind
Snape¡¯s desk and Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.

The light of his wand swung to illuminate the glare that he knew
would be prominent on his professor¡¯s face as the man leaned
against the wall. He knew I was here the whole time, Harry berated
himself snidely.

Harry said the first thing that tumbled into his mouth. ¡°I need to
talk to you about Draco.¡±

¡°And this is something that you could not speak about to Mr.
Malfoy himself? And felt it necessary to wake me up in order to
speak at this particular time?¡±

Screwing up every ounce of Gryffindor courage he had, Harry

replied. ¡°Yes. Because I only just found out that Draco isn¡¯t
anywhere in Hogwarts¡± After a second¡¯s hesitation he added,
¡°sir,¡± just to try and appeal to Snape¡¯s good side¡- if he had one.

Something shifted in Snape¡¯s eyes, but outwardly he appeared the

same. ¡°And you know this, how?¡±

Bloody hell, Harry hadn¡¯t thought how to reveal how he knew

that Draco wasn¡¯t in school. Think Harry, think, he told himself.

¡°Well Mr. Potter?¡±

¡°I know it in the same way that I knew how to get to Hogsmead
back in third year¡± Harry muttered, looking down at his shoes, or
what he assumed were his shoes ¨C he couldn¡¯t tell in the dim
light of one Lumos spell.

He could feel Snape¡¯s eyes burning into his skull as the man
thought about what Harry had just said.

¡°Where do you think Mr. Malfoy is?¡± Snape asked after a long
silence. Harry¡¯s eyes shot up in astonishment before he realized
that he was supposed to answer the question.

¡°I found this in one of Draco¡¯s books.¡± He held out the map of
England to Snape. ¡°I think he¡¯s gone to the starred area¡-
wherever that is.¡±

Snape cast his own Lumos spell in order to look at the map. ¡°If
you are right, Mr. Potter, which I highly doubt you are, then Mr.
Malfoy has gone to Malfoy Manor. You are undoubtedly aware of
how impossible it is to get to Malfoy Manor at this time. How
would you propose he got there? Apparated out of Hogwarts and
into Malfoy Manor? Rode in one of the school carriages perhaps?
Sprouted wings and flew?¡±

Snape stopped short and Harry¡¯s mouth dropped as they both

realized what the potions master had just said. A memory of last
weekend played through Harry¡¯s mind, of snitches, bludgers, and
black wings.

¡°Yes, Professor¡± Harry replied. ¡°I think he did sprout wings and
fly there.¡±

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Serpentis Draconis

Harry fumed silently as he paced the Gryffindor Common Room.

Draco had been missing for over fifteen hours now; how long
exactly wasn¡¯t known because Harry didn¡¯t know when Draco
left.

Harry fought back the yearning to hit something, knowing that

were he to let out his rage, his two friends would become more
scared of him than they already were. As it was, his behavior
resembled a caged animal to them.

It was all just so stupid! Sure, if a student was petrified the whole
school went on bloody alert, but if a student was just missing, there
were protocols! Was Draco really missing? Bloody hell, Harry was
so sick of hearing another teacher ask that to the rest of them.

Snape had gone to Dumbledore immediately and while Harry was

sure that Dumbledore believed them, there was a bunch of legal
stuff set in place for just this occasion.

So after rounding up all the teachers at four in the morning, they

had begun searching the castle. All of it. Every room. And Harry
had been sent back to his dormitory to wait! Then, when everyone
realized Draco really wasn¡¯t in the castle, as Harry had been
telling them, they had to search the bloody Forbidden Forest
because apparently Draco had permission to go there because he
needed someplace to go be a Veriae for a while where no one
could see him, or something like that.

And of course, the centaurs hadn¡¯t taken kindly to a group of

people gallivanting around in their forest, even if one of those
people had been Hagrid, who knew his way around pretty well. Of
course, they found that Draco wasn¡¯t in the forest, after three
hours of searching. Harry could have told them that but they
didn¡¯t listen, of course.

So now they were thinking that maybe Draco really wasn¡¯t in

Hogwarts. So they had to go check Hogsmead! Harry, of course,
knew that Draco wouldn¡¯t be found there. He knew where Draco
was. So did Snape and so, he suspected, did Dumbledore.

¡°Harry, are you OK?¡± Hermione asked cautiously as she saw her
friend had stopped pacing.

¡°Do I look like I¡¯m OK?¡± Harry shot back immediately.

¡°Looks like you¡¯re worried sick,¡± Ron observed.

¡°We should have stopped this searching hours ago!¡± Harry

exploded. ¡°If he¡¯d done something stupid like going to
Hogsmead, then he would have been back by now anyway!¡±

¡°And he wouldn¡¯t have left in the middle of the night,¡±

Hermione added.

¡°Exactly!¡±

¡°So what are we going to do about it?¡± Ron asked.

¡°What can we do? They obviously don¡¯t want us involved,¡±

Hermione pointed out. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t even be here, Harry. They
told you to go wait in your rooms in case he came back.¡±

Harry waved a hand at the Marauder¡¯s Map on the table. ¡°I

would have known if he came back,¡± he muttered.

¡°But if they go to find you and tell you that they actually believe
you, you won¡¯t be there,¡± Hermione continued.

Harry sighed. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll see you later then.¡±

¡°They¡¯ll find him, Harry.¡± Hermione tried to be comforting.

¡°Yeah, even if they have to send Dobby to go open the door to
Malfoy Manor for them,¡± Ron joked.

Neither of the two saw Harry stop and smile slightly as he left the
Common Room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dobby was, as always, ecstatic to see Harry Potter.
¡°How can Dobby be helping you, Harry Potter?¡± he asked
brightly.

¡°I need your help Dobby, and it¡¯s very important.¡±

The House Elf practically squealed his joy at being able to help.

Harry crouched down low in a corner to talk to Dobby so that the

other House Elves in the kitchen would not overhear. ¡°Could you
still get into Malfoy Manor if you wanted to?¡± he asked.

Dobby¡¯s ears drooped a bit but he nodded. ¡°I could, Mr. Harry
Potter sir.¡±

¡°I need to get into Malfoy Manor, Dobby. It¡¯s important. I need
you to connect one fireplace in Malfoy Manor to a fireplace here.
Can you do that?¡±

¡°Oh I can, Mr. Harry Potter sir!¡± Dobby was again happy to help.

¡°Connect it to the Room of Requirement¡¯s fireplace then.¡±

Harry grinned and the two parted ways.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry walked back and forth in front of the Room of Requirement.
I need a fireplace and floo powder, he thought forcefully as he
paced.
Opening the door revealed an empty room except for a large,
ornate fireplace, filled with logs and yet unlit. On the mantle above
the fireplace was a large pot filled with floo powder. Perfect.

A small pop sound to his left indicated Dobby¡¯s return.

¡°It¡¯s all done, Mr. Harry Potter sir. I is connecting you to the
fireplace in old Master¡¯s study.¡±

¡°Perfect, Dobby.¡± Harry went to grab a handful of floo powder.

¡°Mr. Harry Potter sir!¡± Harry turned back to Dobby. ¡°There are
bad people in that house, Harry Potter, VERY bad people.¡± The
elf¡¯s eyes were wide and Harry realized immediately what the elf
was talking about.

¡°I¡¯ll make sure they don¡¯t see me,¡± Harry promised, cloaking
himself in his invisibility cloak before stepping into the fireplace.

¡°Malfoy Manor!¡±

In a flash of green flames, Harry Potter was no longer at Hogwarts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron noticed that Hermione had been quiet for a long time; her quill
was paused over the word she had been writing three minutes ago.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.

¡°Ron, what way would you leave the Gryffindor Common Room
if you were going to the dungeons?¡± Hermione asked.
¡°Well I¡¯d go left to the stairs.¡±

¡°So would I. But Harry went right.¡±

Ron suddenly had a bad feeling. ¡°But where would he go?¡±

¡°Let¡¯s go have a chat with Medusa.¡± Hermione stood and the

two made their way towards the dungeons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco cautiously arrived at Malfoy Manor, calling on the
numerous wind currents in the area to shield him from sight as he
touched down on the lawn. Flying from Hogwarts to Malfoy
Manor took a long time, even with the help of the wind and water
currents making clouds to hide him. It was also very tiring. Draco
had to stop three times along the way to rest and regain his
strength, lest he fall out of the sky for lack of energy. But he had
planned for this, which was why he¡¯d left so early in the morning
and had not planned to get back until Sunday evening.
It was just about time for supper. If all was well, he¡¯d just slip
inside and surprise his father for a meal, get reprimanded for doing
something so foolish, and then they¡¯d talk about these attacks.
Draco knew though that all was not so easy as that. The letters had
warned him of this. But what was wrong¡- that was what he was
here to find out.

The wards around the Manor recognized him, he noticed as he felt

the subtle touch of Veriae magic, his father¡¯s addition to the
wards. Stepping up to the large double doors, he waited for the
wards to admit him. Silently, the door unlocked and he slipped
inside.

All the lights were on inside the Manor. Strange, Draco thought.
His father never left all the lights on. Malfoys were creatures of
darkness, and his father was quite comfortable with only one
candle lit in the entire house, thank you very much. Draco had
inherited this taste from his father. The only one who constantly
left all the lights on in the rooms of the house was¡- Narcissa.

Draco¡¯s lip curled in disgust as he walked silently down the hall,

dropping into a corner when he heard two female voices talking.

¡°-have to have him write another letter tonight.¡±

¡°¡¯Cissy dear, don¡¯t worry. He can barely move, much less use
those Veriae powers.¡±

¡°-nothing can go wrong tonight-¡°

¡°-Initiation-¡°

The voices got quieter as the two women walked away, leaving
Draco fuming. He knew those voices. Narcissa and his aunt,
Bellatrix. Something strange was going on here, Draco thought.
But he had to find his father without being seen. If Bellatrix was
here, then who knew how many other Death Eaters were here as
well. So Draco headed for one place that no self-respecting Death
Eater would bother going: the kitchens. The House Elves could tell
him what was going on.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron and Hermione ran through the halls, oblivious of the rule that
said they couldn¡¯t, heading to the kitchen. They waited
impatiently for the portrait to open and raced inside as soon as they
could fit through.
¡°Dobby!¡± Ron panted. ¡°Where¡¯s Dobby?¡±
¡°Hello friends of Harry Potter!¡± Dobby waved to them from
where the House Elves were mixing raspberries into pie mix.

¡°Dobby, Harry¡¯s in trouble!¡±

Dobby¡¯s eyes widened to a size they did not think possible and in
an instant he disappeared. Ron groaned and Hermione sighed at
this action.

¡°Well, there goes that idea,¡± Ron muttered.

¡°Attention! Will all students please return to their Common

Rooms immediately!¡± McGonagall¡¯s voice sounded through the
school.

¡°We have to tell Dumbledore,¡± Hermione spoke, her tone leaving

no room for discussion, not that Ron would have protested
anyway.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry rolled out of the fireplace and just missed hitting the leg of a
mahogany desk.
¡°What was that?¡± a gruff voice asked.

¡°What was what?¡± another answered.

¡°I thought I heard something.¡±

¡°I think you¡¯ve gone crazy.¡±

¡°Shut up.¡±

Harry pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around himself as he

edged towards the open door. The two Death Eaters began to argue
as he slowly slipped out. Harry ducked into a dark corner just
outside the door. If Snape was right and the Death Eaters hadn¡¯t
rerouted the floo system, he should be somewhere in Lucius¡¯s
wing¡- which was on the opposite side of the house as Draco¡¯s.
Now that he was actually here, he didn¡¯t really know exactly what
he was going to do. Somewhere in this house was Draco, Lucius, a
whole lot of Death Eaters, and maybe Voldemort. He had to find
the first two without running into the second two.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Master Draco!¡± a House Elf squealed as the boy slipped into the
kitchen. The boy hushed the House Elf, listening to see if there was
any movement in the hall before turning back to the creature that
was cowering at his side.
¡°Speak quietly. What has happened?¡±

¡°Oh it was awful, Master Draco!¡± The House Elf, buried her face
in his robes as she sobbed. ¡°They sent these things to attack
Master Lucius, Master Draco, big black creatures that make the air
freeze!¡±

¡°Is my father alright?¡± Draco recognized the description of a

Dementor.

¡°They is ordered not to hurt Master Lucius, Master Draco. That

was for¡- s-someone else¡- they said. Then other people came, lots
of people in black like Master Lucius used to wear.¡±

Black like his father used to wear? His father still wore¡- Draco
then realized what the Elf was saying. Black like his father used to
wear, black robes like his father used to wear, Death Eater robes.
¡°Then a man with red eyes came!¡± the House Elf continued.
¡°Eyes like blood, Master Draco, and skin like no one who ever
came to the Manor had!¡±

Lord Voldemort was in Malfoy Manor?

¡°When was all this?¡±

¡°They is coming one week ago, Master Draco. Diddy hear¡-

Diddy hear that they is making Master Lucius write to Master
Draco as if nothing is happening. Diddy hear they is planning to
gather all the black robed people here, Master Draco, so that when
you come home for the summer they can make someone else come
here too.¡±

¡°Who?¡±

¡°They is not saying, Master Draco. They is saying their Master

wants to kill him, Master Draco.¡±

Harry. They wanted Draco to lead Harry to Malfoy Manor.

¡°Diddy hear they say that many more come tonight, Master
Draco! You are not safe here, Master Draco!¡±

¡°Many more? If they have all the Death Eaters here, who else is
coming?¡±

¡°They is saying those that would become Death Eaters will come
here tonight, Master Draco. You have to leave, Master Draco,
before they is finding you!¡±

Draco felt sick. Initiation. Tonight was the Initiation. That had to
be what the House Elf was taking about. He had to get-
He heard someone try to turn the doorknob and he froze, looking
for a place to hide. Diddy barely held back a shriek and pushed
Draco into an empty cupboard under the countertop.

There was a muffled word from outside the kitchen and someone
entered the room.

¡°C-can Diddy h-help you? S-sir?¡± The frightened house elf

cowered before the closed cupboard door.

¡°You can move out of my way for a minute.¡± The Death Eater
pushed the House Elf aside and stepped up to the counter. He
sighed and sat down on the counter. ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing
Draco, and I think you¡¯re crazy.¡±

Draco¡¯s eyes widened as he realized he knew who this Death

Eater was. Very well in fact. This Death Eater was Blaise.

¡°You picked the worst time to do a rescue mission too. This is the
weekend for Initiation, and You-Know-Who is here somewhere
along with all the Death Eaters and those who want to become
Death Eaters. Most of the Slytherins from school are going to be
hanging around if they¡¯re not here already.¡±

¡°And I didn¡¯t think you were going though with the Death Eater
bit,¡± Draco said quietly through the wood.

¡°I don¡¯t have a choice in the matter. Listen Draco, you may be
my friend but once the Initiation takes place I¡¯m not on your side
anymore. So you have to find your father and get out of here
before then. I heard some of the others talking, and he¡¯s being
held up in the north tower. That¡¯s really all I can do for you at this
point.¡±
Blaise got off the counter and left the room, pausing at the door to
add. ¡°Don¡¯t let me see you.¡±

Draco waited a minute before exiting the cupboard.

¡°I-is you okay, Master Draco?¡±

¡°Yes, Diddy, I¡¯m fine. Diddy, can you get me to the north
tower?¡±

Diddy began to shiver. ¡°Master doesn¡¯t want to go there.

There¡¯s a big snake up there. It eats House Elves sir! Diddy
doesn¡¯t want to see Master Draco hurt.¡±

¡°My father¡¯s up there, Diddy. Can you get me up there or not?¡±

Diddy nodded sadly and snapped her fingers. The kitchen

disappeared and the hallway of the north tower appeared around
them.

¡°Diddy, I need you to do one more thing for me.¡±

¡°What is it, Master Draco?¡± Diddy whispered.

¡°I need you to go back to your normal duties and act as if nothing
is wrong.¡± He turned his back to her.

¡°But-¡°

¡°Do it Diddy.¡±

There was a small popping sound and Diddy disappeared from

behind Draco. Keeping to the shadows of the hall, Draco silently
thanked his third great-grandfather for wanting to redo the entire
house in the gothic style. He¡¯d only been able to talk his wife into
redoing the towers because she never went up there and would
never have to see it. But as Draco pressed back into the shadows
caused by an obsidian gargoyle and a Death Eater passed by on her
way to the stairs, missing him completely, Draco made a resolution
to redo the whole house in that style.

But there weren¡¯t many places that one could hide someone in the
north tower, Draco had to admit. There was only an old owlery up
here and a hardly used platform for stargazing.

He continued his way down the hall and towards the stairs up to
the owlery. There were no sounds echoing down from the top of
the curved staircase, so he began to slowly climb them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°There¡¯s no sign of Mr. Malfoy anywhere in Hogsmead,¡±
Professor McGonagall said wearily. ¡°I believe we must act as if
he really has left Hogwarts.¡±
¡°There is something much worse going on, Minerva,¡±
Dumbledore said gravely. ¡°I¡¯ve just gotten word from the
Ministry. Azkaban has been attacked by Dementors. I believe it is
safe to assume that any Death Eaters who were in Azkaban have
been released.¡±

¡°Do you... Albus, do you think the Malfoys have something to do

with this?¡± McGonagall asked suspiciously.

¡°No, Minerva, I do not think they do. I do, however, think that
someone wants us to think that.¡±

There was a loud banging sound on the door and the sound of two
frightened voices from outside the office shouting, ¡°Professor
Dumbledore! Harry¡¯s disappeared!¡±
Almost as if on cue, a figure dressed in black stepped from the
fireplace in the Headmaster¡¯s office. Snape paused slightly at the
shouting before wincing and turning back to the Headmaster.
¡°He¡¯s calling, Albus. And I¡¯ve noticed that a few other
Slytherins are missing, not just Draco Malfoy.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry was lost. He was somewhere in the south wing¡- or was that
the south part of the north wing? He had no idea. But wherever he
was, it wasn¡¯t where he wanted to be.
¡°Sir?¡±

Harry jumped at the timid voice.

¡°Sir, why is you wearing an invisibility cloak?¡±

Harry turned to see a House Elf cowering near the wall. He moved
farther into the shadows near the Elf. ¡°I¡¯m trying to help
Draco.¡±

¡°Master Draco? Master Draco is being in the north tower, sir¡- sir
is being Master Draco¡¯s Harry!¡±

Harry nodded and the House Elf nearly clapped with joy.

¡°How can I get to Draco?¡±

¡°I can take Sir close to there.¡± Harry nodded and the walls
seemed to bend and blend around him to form a new hallway.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco tried the door and found it locked. Reaching up, he plucked
a single feather out of his wings and, after it turned to steel,
jammed it into the door. After a hard push, the door creaked open.
The small amount of light from the stairwell shone on the floor of
the old owlery. Draco felt all his feathers turn to steel as he stepped
further into the room. His father lay chained to the wall, wings
retracted. There was almost no trace of his normally regal presence
and strange burn marks covered his body, dried blood coated his
arms and torso. Only the slight movement of his chest told Draco
that he was alive.

Harry¡¯s vision swam as a sharp pain shot through his skull.

Anger, Draco¡¯s anger, swirled around him like a cloud. Checking
to see that there was no one in the hallway, he began sprinting
down the halls, trying to make as little sound as possible.

A hiss sounded near his father¡¯s feet and Draco found himself
staring into the eyes of the longest snake he had ever seen. It rose
to look Draco in the eyes, its tongue flickering out as if to taste the
air¡- or his fear.

Draco began to edge away from the snake, trying to see if he could
get to his father by going around it. The snake turned to continue to
watch him as he stepped deeper and deeper into the shadows.
Draco couldn¡¯t see the stone floor nor what was resting on it. He
froze as he bumped against something that was not the stone wall.

A deep hiss cut through the darkness and Draco jumped back
across the light that was cast into the room from the hallway. A
creature moved in the darkness and began to crawl out of the
shadows and into the small beam of light.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry winced as the somewhat familiar feeling of pain began to
spread across his stomach. Draco was in trouble. He crossed into
another hallway and turned down into the corridor that connected
to the tower entrance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco looked up into jeweled faceted eyes whirling in a red fury as
the dragon loomed over him. As he looked up at the black scaled
monstrosity, he never saw the large snake slither out of the room.
Draco¡¯s wings curled forward to protect him from the dragon¡¯s
fire as he jumped backward to avoid a silver-tipped claw reaching
forward to grab at him. He now realized why Voldemort had
chosen this tower to hold his father in. With the window closed no
magical currents could get into the room, which left the Veriae
powerless.

The room was small and cramped, and Draco was pushed farther
and farther back into a remote corner of the room, away from his
father. His wings scraped against the wooden rafters as they sloped
down towards the floors.Another step andhis back hit the stone
wall. He was trapped.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry ran through the corridors as quickly and silently as he could.
The burning sensation in his stomach was growing hotter and
larger by the second. As if he needed more urging to get to Draco;
he berated the bond silently. He was already going as fast as he
could.
After rounding a corner, he was forced to stop suddenly and press
back into the wall as a Death Eater strode down the hall. She
stopped and looked around. Harry held his breath and waited,
hoping she would just move on.

¡°I know you¡¯re here, Potter,¡± a familiar female voice drawled.

¡°Draco and his father are up there but you¡¯ll have to survive me
to get to them. This is the only hallway up to the north tower, so
don¡¯t even think about trying to find another way up.¡±

Her eyes glittered insanely as she grinned at the darkness. ¡°I made
sure we could have a proper fight. My cousin may have taken
precedence last time, but this time, Potter, I¡¯m going to kill
you.¡±

¡°No you won¡¯t Bellatrix,¡± Harry mouthed silently, aiming his

wand at her. His mouth began to form words-

¡°You shall not harm Harry Potter!¡±

¡°Dobby?¡± Harry whispered as Bellatrix spun to look at the House

Elf that had materialized behind her.

In a manner akin to Lucius Malfoy in Harry¡¯s second year,

Bellatrix was thrown backward, hitting the wall with a crack that
couldn¡¯t have been healthy. She slid to the floor in a heap,
unmoving. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off as he stepped into
the hallway.

¡°Dobby, what are you doing here?¡±

¡°I came to help Harry Potter sir.¡±

Harry winced as another wave of pain hit. ¡°Come on Dobby,¡± he

told the House Elf as he grabbed the cloak and headed for the
stairs. Sounds of snarling echoed down the stairwell. Harry raced
up the stairs as he heard a strangled shriek and threw open the door
at the top of the stairwell. He stopped short at the state of the room.

The room was covered in splatters of blood. In the far corner he

could see Draco outlined in bloodstained steal wings, the mutilated
corpse of a dragon in front of him. Draco was staring down at the
corpse with an expression akin to horror.

¡°Draco, are you okay?¡± Harry asked as he stepped into the room.

¡°I think I¡¯m gonna be sick.¡± Draco spoke softly.

¡°Fine, but not now. We have to get out of here before they figure
out what¡¯s going on.¡±

Draco nodded and stepped gingerly around the mutilated body.

Harry walked up to where Lucius was chained to the wall and
pressed his wand¡¯s tip to the man¡¯s temple. ¡°Enervate.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voldemort stood as the ceremony finished, frowning slightly.
¡°M¡¯Lord?¡± one of the Death Eaters asked.

¡°I want you all to search the mansion,¡± Voldemort hissed.

¡°Nagini has informed me that we have some guests.¡±

Chapter Thirty: Opening the Gates of Hell

Lucius Malfoy¡¯s eyes opened blearily, and took in his blood

covered son and his son¡¯s bonded in the dim light before saying:

¡°What are you two thinking!?¡± He half shouted at them as Harry

whispered the spells to unlock the chains. ¡°You cannot possibly
be this dense!¡±

¡°With all due respect, Mr. Malfoy, you¡¯re beginning to sound

like Snape¡± Harry said seriously. He was fixed with two
incredulous looks before Draco spoke.
¡°I came to rescue you, Father, but I did not bring Harry. He came
by himself. He¡¯s the stupid one, not me.¡±

The look Lucius gave his son was one that stated quite clearly that
he highly doubted his son¡¯s words were true, but he said nothing.
He gave a long suffering sigh and leaned back against the wall,
wincing as his body protested.

¡°So then Potter, I can guess how my son came here from
Hogwarts. How did you?¡±

Harry looked down at the blood-stained floor sheepishly. ¡°I had

Dobby connect the fireplace in your study to one in the Room of
Requirement at Hogwarts.¡±

Instead of being angry that his former House Elf had done
something like that, Lucius merely looked impressed. ¡°That was a
good idea, Potter. And it gives us a means out of this mess.¡±

¡°But your study¡¯s in the south wing,¡± Draco pointed out. ¡°And
we¡¯re in the north wing. Initiation isn¡¯t going to take all that
long.¡±

¡°It¡¯s probably over by now¡± Lucius replied morosely.

¡°Initiation?¡± Harry asked, the blood draining from his face.

¡°Yes. You two picked a magic¡¯s cursed time to stage this rescue
mission.¡±

¡°Draco picked it, not me¡± Harry pointed out.

¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to come, did I?¡±

¡°This is not the time to be casting blame.¡± Lucius stopped the
bickering with a look. ¡°We have to devise the safest way out of
this mess, and quickly. We could take the diagonal, go down to the
ballroom. And though that would be the fastest way, it¡¯s probably
the worst as well. They most likely used the ballroom for
Initiation.¡±

¡°We could walk through my wing and then down to yours¡±

Draco offered, thinking of his mental maps of the Manor.

¡°Too much time spent walking in a place they could easily check.
No, we have to get over to the east side of the Manor without them
being able to see us.¡±

¡°Underground then?¡± Draco asked, a slight tinge of fear in his

voice.

¡°Yes. No Death Eater would look there.¡±

¡°Um, Mr. Malfoy, are you sure you can walk that far?¡± Harry
asked as he surveyed exactly how much damage Lucius had been
through.

¡°You¡¯d be surprised what adrenaline and Veriae magic can do

towards ignoring one¡¯s wounds¡± Lucius drawled. ¡°Once we¡¯re
out of this magic forsaken tower, I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

Leaning heavily on his son, Lucius stood on shaky limbs, and the
three of them made their way towards the base of the tower.

¡°Where are we going exactly?¡± Harry asked, as they made their

way down the steps. Neither of the two Malfoys had explained
their conversation from before and he had no idea what they were
talking about.
¡°The dungeons run underneath the north to west wall¡± Lucius
explained in a ragged voice. ¡°We¡¯re going to walk through them
to get to the west wing and then walk down the corridor that leads
to my study.¡±

¡°No one goes down there.¡± Draco said with conviction. ¡°Even if
every Malfoy to live here has memorized it passageways, it¡¯s still
not a good place to go by yourself.¡±

At the bottom of the steps a small shriek greeted them.

¡°Master! You is so hurt! Let Diddy help-¡°

¡°No. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

The House Elf cowered uncertainly at her Master¡¯s feet. ¡°If you
is saying so, Master,¡± she said sadly.

¡°Harry Potter, is you ok?¡± Harry looked down to see Dobby¡¯s

eyes looking up at him with concern, as if checking to see if
Lucius¡¯s ailments were also Harry¡¯s.

¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine.¡±

¡°Dobby is happy to hear that!¡±

Dobby¡¯s eyes swept over the elder Malfoy and he pressed himself
further into Harry¡¯s shadow.

Lucius ignored the House Elf, and addressed Harry. ¡°Request that
your House Elf connect the floo in my study to the one in the
Headmaster¡¯s office. I don¡¯t want to waste time walking through
the halls of Hogwarts as well.¡±
Harry relayed the request to Dobby, who was happy to do such for
Harry Potter. The House Elf disappeared with a small pop and
Lucius turned to his own House Elf.

¡°I want you to get all the other House Elves together. If the Death
Eaters start looking for us, I want you to get in their way.¡±

¡°Diddy understands, Master. Diddy will do so.¡±

The other House Elf vanished with a pop and left the two Malfoys
and Harry Potter standing alone in the corridor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry had never been to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, and he
was happy that he hadn¡¯the thought as he stepped off the small
staircase and looked around. The rooms were dank, dark, and
smelled of bodily fluids that Harry didn¡¯t want to identify.
Someone shifted next to him and a small light appeared in Lucius
Malfoy¡¯s handone of his feathers, glowing as brightly as a Lumos
spell.
In the dim light Harry could make out the cell doors, wood and
steel monstrosities that lined the hallway that they were in. Harry
could see why no Death Eater would want to come down here. The
dungeons, from what he could see, were a maze of hallways. There
would be no hope for a prisoner to get out of here once left behind
in the lightless rooms.

¡°Be careful.¡± Lucius spoke softly as he began to walk down the

passageway. Harry and Draco followed as silently as they could,
passing door after door, hallway after hallway.

One of the doors they passed was open and Harry looked in to see
a skeleton sitting in a pool of dried blood. After that he didn¡¯t try
and look around.
Lucius turned and headed down another corridor, turned again at
the next hallway and continued in that direction for a while. Harry
found himself praying that Lucius Malfoy knew where he was
going, because there was no way he¡¯d be able to find his way
back to where they¡¯d come from if the man suddenly announced
that they were lost.

After they turned yet another cornerthere was a small crunch, and
both Lucius and Harry turned to see a peculiar expression on
Draco¡¯s face. ¡°I think I just crushed someone¡¯s head.¡± He
explained, his voice strained, his eyes pointedly looking anywhere
but down at his feet where the splintered remains of a skull lay
under his shoe.

Luicus didn¡¯t say anything but turned and continued walking.

Harry almost cried out in relief when he saw a set of stone steps
spiraling upwards towards a small door. They had reached the
other side of the dungeons.

Lucius was about to put a foot on the step when a small voice
whispered ¡°Lumos¡± behind them.

All three turned to see the pug-like features of Pansy Parkinson

looking at them with tear-streaked eyes. She stared only at Draco
for a moment before her eyes closed tight and she placed a hand
over her eyelids.

¡°I didn¡¯t believe them when they told me what was going on.¡±
She spoke quickly, her voice hushed and afraid. ¡°But ¨C but I
can¡¯t! I can¡¯t! Get out here now! I ¨C I didn¡¯t see anything. I
didn¡¯t!¡±
Draco cast a sorrowful look at the broken girl before he followed
his father up the steps.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lone Death Eater stood in the hallway with his back to the door
that lead down to the dungeons on guard duty in case the three of
them tried to enter it, Harry guessed. He made a strange strangled
sound when Lucius¡¯s wing slit his throat and he fell to the ground
in a crumpled heap.
Neither boy made a comment as they followed Lucius down the
hall, carefully sidestepping the body who¡¯s blood was now
seeping into the purple Persian carpet. They had to run a little in
order to keep up with the elder Malfoy¡¯s long and purposeful
strides. They were not fleeing the house¡- not yet, but they were
certainly moving quickly.

The hallway seemed deserted, but they could hear crashes and
movement resounding throughout the entire house. The Malfoy
house elves were doing a great job then They certainly must have
been holding up a lot of Death Eaters, if the muffled shouts were
anything to go by.

A sharp pain hit Harry like a needle through his stomach. Realizing
it for what it was, he pushed Draco down to the floor just as a blue
beam of light raced over their heads.

Lucius whirled around at the sound of curse hitting wall and

snarled as a robed figure stepped out of the shadows.

¡°I told you not to let me see you,¡± the Death Eater hissed at
Draco.

¡°Blaise-¡° Draco started.

¡°I found them!¡± Blaise yelled at the top of his lungs. The boy
could say no more as he was flung back against the wall, the sound
of broken bones on stone filling the hallway as the full fury that
was Lucius Malfoy was unleashed in a fit of Veriae magic.

Blaisegasped as he slunk to the ground. ¡°Run¡- now¡-¡± he

whispered pitifully at Draco as Harry helped the young Malfoy to
his feet.

¡°Come on!¡± Harry whispered, as Draco stared at his friend with a

look of horror. He could hear the muffled footsteps of the Death
Eaters getting closer, most likely tracking Blaise¡¯s position with a
spell.

The three now took off at a run. The long hallway was now filled
with shouts and curses as the Death Eaters poured into the rooms
of what had been Lucius¡¯s personal wing. The sound of breaking
glass, splintering wood, and a few shrieks of what had to be House
Elves filled their ears, and yet could not drown out the sound of
their own hurried footsteps, muffled by the rug.

The study door was still open as they neared it A sigh of relief
squelched in Harry¡¯s throat as a lone figure walked though it to
bar their path of escape.

The three running stopped short, a room¡¯s length away from the
robed figure. Almost cowering behind the steel wings of his
father¡¯s, Draco¡¯s hand sought Harry¡¯s as his own wings re-
emerged, steel tipped on one side, soft as silk on the side near
Harry.

¡°Luciussss Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter,¡± the figure

hissed, and Harry could almost picture a forked tongue as he
spoke.
¡°Get ready to run, Draco.¡± Lucius spoke calmly, his eyes never
leaving the red ones of Lord Voldemort.

¡°Run?¡± The figure¡¯s mouth curled into a cruel smile. ¡°Where

would you run? Not back up the corridor, surely. It¡¯s full of my
loyal Death Eaters by now. And you cannot run from the Killing
Curse.¡±

¡°No, but you can block it¡± Lucius replied just as calmly.

¡°Daddy¡± Draco whispered, his eyes looking up at his father in

new fear.

There was something Draco must know that I don¡¯t, Harry

thought.

¡°Ah yes, you always did say that, Luciusss. The easiest curse to
block, you said. All you have to do is get someone in-between you
and the curse and it¡¯s blocked.¡± The smile twisted into a sneer.
¡°There will be no one in between us when I cast it, I assure you.¡±

A wand lifted in their direction and Lucius shouted. ¡°Now

Draco!¡±

Draco didn¡¯t wait to ask, but ran past his father towards
Voldemort and the doorway, pulling Harry along behind him.

There was a small pop, and a snarl as Voldemort was pushed

backwards by one lone House Elf that was standing between him
and her master. There was a growl and a bolt of green light, and
Harry barely registered his own shout as the little creature, Diddy,
fell dead.

Draco barreled into the room, hand clenched tightly around

Harry¡¯s, and headed for the open pot of floo powder Dobby had
placed on the mantle. Lucius entered the room at a run as his son
grabbed a handful of the powder, more spilling over the floor in his
haste.

¡°Quickly, go!¡± Lucius shouted, as an irate Voldemort entered the

room.

Harry pulled Draco into the fireplace as the floo powder fell upon
the flames, turning them green.

¡°Father come-¡° Draco tried to pull his father into the large
fireplace.

He was pushed back into Harry with a snarled, ¡°Go!¡±

Harry realized what Lucius Malfoy was doing as Voldemort raised

his wand and pointed it towards him. ¡°Hogwarts!¡± He yelled as
Voldemort spoke:

¡°Avada Kedavra.¡±

The last thing Harry sawthrough the flameswas a cascade of black

feathers as Draco¡¯s screams filled his ears.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They fell out of the fireplace into an undignified sprawl of arms
and legs. Harry grabbed on to Draco as the other boy scrambled to
get back to the fire.
¡°Father!¡± he screeched.

¡°Draco, stop!¡± Harry yelled, fighting to keep the blond away

from the flames. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do.¡±
The blond collapsed in a sobbing heap on the floor of
Dumbledore¡¯s officeas the door was opened and Albus
Dumbledore walked in, followed closely by Ron and Hermione.

Chapter Thirty-One: A Promise

For five minutes Dumbledore¡¯s office was pure chaos.

¡°Harry!¡± both Ron and Hermione cried and ran over to where he
was still sprawled on the floor.

¡°Are you all right?¡± Hermione kept asking, as if the first time he
answered her question was not truthful enough.

¡°And what happened to Malfoy?¡± Ron asked after a few minutes.

Draco continued to sob into Harry¡¯s shirt and Harry did the only
thing he could think to do: let him, even though he was fast losing
feeling in his lower legs because of how Draco¡¯s body had landed
on them.

Dumbledore said nothing until the door opened and Professor

McGonagall entered the room. The deputy Headmistress had the
total count of missing students. Not counting Harry and Draco,
thirteen Slytherins were missing, along with five Ravenclaws, two
Hufflepuffs, and three Gryffindors. All of the students were either
six or seventh year students.

Dumbledore needed only to think for a moment before issuing the

orders. Filch was to personally watch the front doors and leave
them open for any students who were courageous enough to march
in after being missing. All students were to remain in their
Common Rooms until every student from that House was
accounted for. The Heads of their respective Houses were to stay
with their students in their Common Room. Dumbledore himself
would cover the Slytherin House in Professor Snape¡¯s absence.
Hermione and Ron were to go back to the Gryffindor Common
Room.

¡°Harry,¡± Dumbledore said through Draco¡¯s muffled sobs.

¡°Why don¡¯t you take Draco back down to your rooms. I trust you
will both stay there.¡± The twinkle was gone from his eyes as he
spoke, a direct order, not a suggestion¡- though Harry doubted
neither Draco nor himself would be doing much of anything at
least until breakfast.

Harry helped Draco get to his feet and the new Malfoy patriarch
walked solemnly out of the room. Harry had to admire Draco¡¯s
strength. If he had been in Draco¡¯s position he doubted he would
be able to think straight right now, much less be somewhat
dignified. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of
Dumbledore¡¯s office together, pausing at the foot of the stairs.

¡°You are going to tell us what happened right?¡± Ron asked

tentatively.

Harry nodded. ¡°What I saw of it anyway.¡±

Ron seemed satisfied and started off towards the Gryffindor

Common Room, not realizing that Hermione lingered a moment
longer.

¡°He¡¯s going to need your support Harry¡± Hermione said quietly,

as if unsure how to approach the subject. ¡°You might not have
gone through the same thing he did, so you cannot feel his same
emotions, but you can make sure other people stay away from him
until he¡¯s ready to face the world again.¡± She started walking to
catch up with Ron, turning back when she thought of something.
¡°And knowing Malfoy, it will be before he¡¯s truly ready for it.¡±
Then she too left Harry to walk after Draco towards their rooms.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medusa was livid when Harry got to the portrait.
¡°What did you do!¡± she nearly screamed at him.

Harry ignored her and spoke the password. The gorgon continued
to rant about whatever it was that Harry had done to make the poor
Malfoy boy so miserable as she opened and Harry was sure that he
could hear her continuing to speak about it, now in Parseltongue.

¡°You¡¯re starting to repeat yourself,¡± Harry muttered, but he

knew she wouldn¡¯t hear him.

He found Draco in their bedroom, curled up on his bed in what

muggles called the fetal position. His wings were curled around
him as if to protect him from the world, but they opened as Harry
drew near.

The boy was the personification of grief, and Harry wished at that
moment to never see such a sight again. Strands of blond hair stuck
to his face, held by the drying and still wet tears. His eyes had lost
their luster, more of a dull gray than a vibrant silver. His fingers
trembled as they held his knees to his chest.

Harry had never wished Voldemort dead quite like he did right
now.

Harry approached the bed cautiously, slowly, unsure if Draco

would push him away. Maybe Draco wouldn¡¯t want him to be
seen in this state. Yet, as Harry stepped close enough that he could
have reached out and touched him, a wing encircled him and
pulled him closer. Draco¡¯s arms followed, and Harry found
himself again with a lap full of a crying Malfoy.

¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Draco¡¯s voice was riddled with sobs and heaves.
¡°He¡¯s gone. He¡¯s not coming back.¡±

Harry didn¡¯t know what to say, so he didn¡¯t say anything. What

could one say? So he just held Draco and let the blond mutter
broken sentences into his chest.

They stayed that way for a long time, until Draco¡¯s sobs had
slowed and his breathing evened. Harry realized that Draco had
fallen asleep, worn himself out with crying.

Carefully Harry maneuvered them into a horizontal position and

closed his own eyes, willing himself to sleep and not think about
what the morning might bring.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry shifted from sleeping to waking instantly, realizing that
Draco had shifted and was also awake.
All the blond said when he realized that Harry was awake was,
¡°It¡¯s afternoon already.¡±

Harry could easily believe it. He stretched and tried to be discrete

as he watched Draco pick out what he was going to wear that day
and disappear into the bathroom to change. The blonde¡¯s
emotions seemed to have shut down. He didn¡¯t even scoff at the
mirror when she commented, ¡°You look absolutely dreadful
dear,¡± a comment that would have produced a shouting match on
a normal day.
Harry quickly changed out of his own clothing from the night
before and into clean robes, wondering what in Merlin¡¯s name he
was going to do next. Luckily, Dobby made that decision for him.

The House Elf entered the room with a tray laden with foods that
Harry knew were Draco¡¯s favorite breakfast foods. This the
House Elf placed on Harry¡¯s made-and-hardly-slept-in bed before
turning to Harry. Even the normally cheerful House Elf seemed to
be in mourning.

¡°Dobby thought he might do something to help, Harry Potter

Sir,¡± Dobby muttered. ¡°Dobby knew Diddy would be doing that
if she were still here, Harry Potter, so Dobby¡- Dobby broke more
rules, Harry Potter Sir.¡±

Harry was confused but he followed the House Elf out of the
bedroom when the Elf beckoned him to follow.

¡°This was in former Master¡¯s study, Harry Potter,¡± Dobby said,

pointing at the wall.

Harry¡¯s jaw dropped.

A regal golden eyebrow rose in a disdainful manner that Harry was

all too familiar with. The man in the portrait on the wall looked
Harry over with an appraising eye and decided that he wasn¡¯t
worth talking to.

Harry looked over at Dobby with a question. ¡°And Lucius Malfoy

had this in his study?¡±

His eyes returned to the portrait as Dobby offered a tentative

explanation. ¡°Former Master was not liked by some relatives,
Harry Potter, so he is thinking it was safer to put the portrait of
himself where the other portraits could not be going.¡±
And indeed it was a portrait of Lucius Malfoy that Dobby had
placed on their wall, all the way from Malfoy Manor itself if Harry
understood correctly.

¡°But Dobby, why did you go back there?¡± Harry asked.

¡°The bad people are not staying there, Harry Potter. Now that you
is back safe in Hogwart, they is saying that the Manor will soon be
crawling with Ministry people, Harry Potter Sir. Other House
Elves is telling me this when I went there.¡±

It made sense. Kinda. Although Harry was struck with a small

morbid curiosity of what had happened to Lucius Malfoy¡¯s body.
Then he decided he¡¯d rather not know.

The door to the bedroom opened and Draco walked out, pausing
when he saw Harry and his family¡¯s former House Elf standing in
the room. Then his eyes drifted to the wall that had been bare
before and now held his father¡¯s picture. He didn¡¯t say anything
for a moment or so, just looked at it.

Harry had to admit it was a good picture of Lucius Malfoy. He was

dressed as he had always appeared in public, in the best black silk
robes that money could buy. The background of the picture was in
one of the libraries of Malfoy Manor, and one could see the fields
behind the Manor through one large ceiling to floor window. The
Lucius in the picture stood regally, looking out the window like a
king would look out over his country. And, Harry thought, that was
how the real Lucius Malfoy had looked at his life in general.

The one thing that separated the Lucius in the picture from the one
that appeared in Ministry functions and could be seen strolling
down Diagon Alley as if he owned the place, was that the artist had
drawn his wings black, silken, and as magnificent as they had
appeared when Harry had first seen them in the Great Hall.

Dobby disappeared, as if fleeing from a possible outburst from

Draco at how the House Elf had broken whatever rule it was he
said he had broken, leaving Harry and Draco in the room.

¡°Dobby¡- thought it might help¡± Harry said at last. ¡°I didn¡¯t

know he was going to do it.¡±

Draco nodded, his eyes never leaving the portrait.

Harry suddenly felt as if he wasn¡¯t supposed to be there, as if

there was some closure that Draco needed that he shouldn¡¯t see.

¡°I¡¯m going to go get some lunch,¡± he said.

¡°Fine.¡±

Harry knew by now that, coming from Draco, that was a dismissal.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Great Hall was more crowded than usual on a Saturday, but
Harry immediately located Hermione and Ron in the crowd of
Gryffindor students. They offered him tentative smiles as he
approached and sat down across from them.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Harry asked, indicating the bustle of
students talking excitedly.

¡°The students that were out last night all came back a few hours
after you did¡± Ron explained in a hushed voice. ¡°They were all
sent to sleep in the infirmary and all of them except Blaise are up
in Dumbledore¡¯s office right now. They all face suspensionbut
people are whispering about expulsion.¡±
¡°Blaise has three cracked ribs, a fractured knee, fractured jaw, and
a severe concussion. One of the ribs punctured his lung as well, but
he¡¯s expected to make a full recovery¡± Hermione continued.

¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a secret so everyone knows,¡± Harry

remarked, loading food onto his plate.

¡°So, are you going to tell us what happened?¡± Ron asked.

¡°Yeah, but not here. After I eat we¡¯ll go talk.¡±

Harry ate quickly and the three Gryffindors left the Great Hall and
headed down towards where Hagrid¡¯s house was. No other
students were milling about today; most of them seemed to be
waiting for the verdict on the formerly missing students.

As they walked, Harry told his friends what had happened, starting
with his idea to have Dobby connect a fireplace to Malfoy Manor
and ending with Lucius Malfoy¡¯s death.

¡°Bloody hell,¡± Ron said appreciably when he finished. There was

a pause as no one said anything, then Ron frowned. ¡°I wonder
what will happen with the Manor now.¡±

¡°What do you mean?¡±

¡°Well, Malfoy¡¯s parents were divorced when his father died.

Normally, like if my father died, the house would go to my mom
and then when she died to the oldest child, or whoever was named
heir. But Malfoy¡¯s not sixteen yet, is he? So he can inherit the
property but he can¡¯t live on it until he¡¯s legal.¡±
¡°He could be facing a lot of legal problems then¡± Hermione said
thoughtfully. ¡°Other adults could make a case that he is unfit to
inherit it because of his age.¡±

¡°True. And I bet Lucius Malfoy left everything to his son¡± Ron
continued. ¡°The Malfoys would stick to tradition like that. Malfoy
would inherit everything, so if he was deemed unfit to inherit, then
someone else would get everything.¡±

¡°And any other relatives are Death Eaters,¡± Harry continued the
thought. ¡°That could be a problem.¡±

¡°Well, it won¡¯t be if Malfoy turns sixteen soon. Does anyone

know his birthday?¡± Hermione asked. Both Harry and Ron shook
their heads.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry walked into his and Draco¡¯s rooms tentatively, unsure of
what to expect. Draco was sitting on the couch, looking into the
fire, a thoughtful expression on his face. Lucius Malfoy¡¯s portrait
was still on the wall The figure inside it looked up slightly when
Harry entered the room and nodded curtly to Harry before
returning his attention to the window.
Draco didn¡¯t look up until Harry sat down next to him on the
couch. Harry thought Draco looked much better now than he had
that morning. His eyes had returned to their original coloring, and
the sullen expression that had set in, though still there, was not as
prominent as it had been before. Harry wondered if Draco had
talked to the portrait of his father after he¡¯d left. He knew that he
would have, had there been a portrait of Sirius Black to talk to after
his godfather¡¯s death.

¡°Voldemort killed my father¡± Draco said softly, his eyes boring

into Harry¡¯s own with a question. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to
fight him. Harry¡- are you going to kill him? When you fight
him?¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Harry replied evenly and with a conviction he¡¯d not felt
before. ¡°I am going to kill him.¡±

¡°Promise me¡- that when you do, even though you have your own
reasons to kill him¡- promise me that part of it will be for my
father.¡±

Harry looked for a moment at the boy sitting next to him, saw how
hurt inside Draco was, saw the same feelings that he knew from his
own experiences¡- saw the one thing that he might be able to do to
help.

¡°I promise.¡±

Chapter Thirty-Two: Wildfire News

Harry had never seen the student body of Hogwarts as attentive as

when Dumbledore announced the four day suspension of twenty-
three students from the school. No names were mentioned, though
as Harry looked around the Great Hall it was rather obvious where
the gaps in the houses were. As his eyes had done countless times
during the day, he sought out Draco who was sitting calmly at the
breakfast table. He had briefly appeared in the Great Hall for meals
on Sunday, but had insisted on going to classes on Monday.

¡°Harry, you look more upset than Malfoy,¡± Ron muttered.

¡°Relax. If Malfoy was going to break down, he would have done
it already.¡±

¡°I think he¡¯s doing the right thing¡± Hermione added. Harry
looked at her in surprise. ¡°The faster you get back into your life
after an incident like that, the better it is in the long run. People
find the routine of their lives helps them move past it.¡±

¡°But that routine has been broken already, hasn¡¯t it?¡± Ron asked
around a mouthful of eggs.

¡°Yeah, because normally Draco gets a letter right about now,¡±

Harry muttered.

Hermione winced and Ron tried not to look sympathetic for his
long time rival.

¡°What about you and Malfoy?¡± Hermione asked after a minute.

¡°Why aren¡¯t you two in trouble?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know. Dumbledore didn¡¯t say.¡± Harry shrugged ¡°But

if I had to guess, I would say that he didn¡¯t want to draw attention
to it.¡±

¡°Hmm?¡± Ron frowned in the midst of drinking his pumpkin

juice.

¡°Oh I get it!¡± Hermione exclaimed before adding in a much

quieter tone. ¡°As long as he keeps you and Draco out of it, then
nothing about Voldemort is exposed to the school.¡±

¡°Kinda like he did when Malfoy¡¯s... dad showed up in

Hogwarts?¡± Ron asked.

¡°Exactly.¡±

There was a rustle of wings throughout the Great Hall as the mail
began to arrive. Harry¡¯s eyes snapped towards Draco, but the
blonde looked... well, he looked like he did normally, yet he was
much too tense for him to be acting truly normal. Also, his clothes
made any pretense of ¡°normality¡± disappear faster than an
invisibility spell.

Draco wore what Hermione had informed him as traditional

mourning clothing in the Wizarding World. Underneath his outer
school robes, he wore clothing of the colors found on the Malfoy
family crest, colors that represented the Malfoy family. Clothing of
those colors would only be worn on three occasions, Hermione
said: when there was a birth, when there was a wedding, and when
there was a death. The occasion was specified by the armbands
worn on the cuffs of the robes blue or rose for a birth (depending
on the gender of the baby), white for a wedding, and a dark blood
red for a death. Draco¡¯s cuffs were so dark red that it was hard to
tell where the black of his robes ended and the red began, and
looked so bloody that it seemed as though he had dipped his robes
in his own blood.

Draco had gone to Snape that morning to get permission to violate

the school uniform in such a way. Snape had let him without
hesitation.

¡°Harry¡- you should look at this,¡± Ron said in a voice that told
Harry something was wrong.

Harry looked at the paper in Ron¡¯s hand and groaned. ¡°I guess
they made the death public?¡±

¡°Not just that Harry,¡± Hermione told him, looking over from
where she sat perusing another student¡¯s paper. ¡°Look at the first
and second pages.¡±

Wincing Harry took the paper and scanned the headline on the first
page.
Lucius Malfoy Found Dead With Dark Mark Blazing Over Malfoy
Manor

Hoping that the next page didn¡¯t also have to do with Lucius
Malfoy¡¯s death, Harry opened the paper. When he saw the title,
he suddenly wished it did have to do with Lucius Malfoy¡¯s death.

A Secret Love Affair Revealed: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter

¡°Oh no.¡±

¡°Oh yes.¡± Hermione looked livid. ¡°When I get my hands on her,

I¡¯ll squash her like the bug she is!¡±

Harry¡¯s eyes fell to the name of the writer of the second article
and he practically hissed at the name. Rita Skeeter.

Ron took the paper from Harry¡¯s shaking hands and began to read
the second article for himself, cringing every two minutes. ¡°You
want to know the damage, mate?¡±

¡°Why not? I¡¯ll learn it sooner or later,¡± Harry grumbled into his
drink.

¡°Well, from the way she says it, you two might as well have been
soul mates from birth. It talks about Malfoy being a Veriae, though
it doesn¡¯t say much other than a ¡°cousin of the well known
Veela¡±. It also says that you two have been sharing rooms since
the beginning of this year, which is true, but then goes on to
describe your relationship, the detail of which is utterly false and
makes me sick.¡±

¡°Doesn¡¯t sound bad so far,¡± Harry muttered.

¡°Oh it gets better, Harry,¡± Hermione seethed at the article. ¡°It
talks about how Malfoy has no choice in his soul mate and says,
and I quote: ¡®In such a time of grief as Draco Malfoy is going
through over the loss of his father, Lucius Malfoy, he will become
more dependant on his mate¡¯ ¨C I can¡¯t believe she actually uses
that term! ¨C ¡®and will be vulnerable to any suggestions he might
get from Harry Potter¡¯.¡± Hermione snorted in disgust.

¡°It makes it sound like he¡¯s your-¡°

¡°Don¡¯t say it Ron,¡± Harry seethed.

Harry was so absorbed in hating Rita Skeeter that he didn¡¯t notice

a large barn owl drop a letter onto Draco¡¯s lap. He did notice the
sudden movement from the Slytherin table as Draco stood and
abruptly left the room, their eyes meeting for a moment as he did
so.

Harry nodded to his friends and followed the blonde out of the
room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco stalked down towards the dungeons, pausing only to snarl
the password at Medusa before walking into their rooms. Harry
followed him silently, ignoring the portrait¡¯s talk about how the
poor boy was still distressed from whatever Harry had done and
he¡¯d better fix it.
¡°Did you see the Prophet?¡± Harry asked as Draco began pacing
the room.

¡°Why would I? I knew what was going to be there,¡± Draco

muttered.
¡°On the first page or the second page?¡± Harry queried, leaning
against the portrait door.

¡°The second page?¡± Draco asked.

¡°Yeah. The page with the article about your and my secret love
affair.¡±

All color drained from Draco¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re kidding.¡±

¡°Nope. The entire Wizarding World knows you¡¯re a Veriae now.

They know that we¡¯re rooming together. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll
believe that we¡¯re sleeping together or not, but that¡¯s there too.
Oh, and there¡¯s the implication that I might be using you for my
own selfish gain somewhere in there as well.¡±

¡°Bloody hell,¡± Draco snarled, as he dropped an opened letter on

the couch. ¡°Well, that explains this then.¡±

¡°What is it?¡± Harry asked.

¡°Read it yourself. I¡¯m going to go shower.¡±

¡°We have Potions first period you know¡± Harry warned,

knowing that this kind of shower for Draco would be a long one.

¡°Oh I know, and if I actually make it to that class at all I will be

very surprised.¡±

¡°I should be making a comment about the unfairness of it all¡±

Harry muttered as his eyes scanned the letter. ¡°Who¡¯s Mr.
Archeon?¡±
¡°Mr. Achilles Archeon is the man who looked after my father¡¯s
will while he was alive¡± Draco explained over his shoulder as he
left the room.

Harry frowned slightly as he read the tiny, scrawling script.

Something about reading Draco¡¯s father¡¯s will after his wake,
which was in three days. It assured Draco that while the Malfoy
Gringotts accounts were frozen until the reading of the will,
Draco¡¯s personal one would remain open for his use, as it was not
owned by his father at his father¡¯s time of death, but by Draco
himself.

It also said that after the divorce his father had made Draco¡¯s
godfather Professor Severus Snape, Draco¡¯s legal guardian if he
should pass away before Draco reached legality. Then, and Harry
assumed that this was the part Draco had been upset about, it stated
that Narcissa Malfoy had already declared her intention to
challenge the transfer of Draco¡¯s guardianship from herself to
Snape and the man wrote that he could only assume that she would
also challenge any inheritance Draco might receive from his
departed father. But, it said, even though Draco would not reach
the legal age of seventeen until June fifth of that year, a little less
than four months away, in light of certain new developments there
may be a way for Draco to enter into legality despite his age,
should the rumors prove true.

Should the rumors prove true? Harry gulped. The man couldn¡¯t
be talking about that rumor, could he? And even if he was, why
would Harry¡¯s relationship (if you could call a few scattered
kisses and one make-out session a relationship) with Draco have
anything to do with Draco becoming legal in the Wizarding World
before his birthday?

Harry caught up with Hermione a few minutes before breakfast

ended as she made her way down to the dungeons for Potions.
¡°What are the ways that you can become legal in the Wizarding
World?¡± Harry asked breathlessly, thoughts jumbled in his head,
and gasping from his run up from his and Draco¡¯s rooms.

Hermione looked surprised for a moment before answering, ¡°The

legal age in the Wizarding World is seventeen, so anyone becomes
legal if they turn seventeen. However, in older wizarding custom,
marriages were arranged at birth and the children to be married
were usually engaged at fifteen. This started the tradition that a
wizard or witch could become legal in the Wizarding World after
becoming engaged. They needed that¡-¡± Hermione searched for
the right word, ¡°flexibility¡- in order to plan their weddings. And
the guy in the relationship had to be able to provide for his wife,
and so on.¡± The look on Hermione¡¯s face showed exactly how
enamored with that idea she was¡- not very much at all. ¡°Why do
you ask, Harry?¡± she questioned him a second later, suddenly
curious.

¡°No reason. Just wondered,¡± Harry said quickly.

Hermione didn¡¯t buy it for an instant. ¡°Harry, what¡¯s going

on?¡± She paused. ¡°This has to do with Malfoy doesn¡¯t it?¡±

¡°No! Well¡- yes, it kinda does, but it¡¯s not what you¡¯re
thinking!¡± Harry sputtered as Hermione¡¯s face held a look of
disapproval. ¡°And we¡¯re going to be late to Potions if we don¡¯t
hurry,¡± Harry changed the subject, grateful for a distraction. He
wasn¡¯t ready to have a conversation with Hermione about what
she had just told him, not yet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry sat on his rarely-slept-in bed paying absolutely no attention
to the Transfiguration essay he was supposed to be working on.
He¡¯d gone through the rest of the day in the exact same manner
he still didn¡¯t know how he managed to get through Potions
without destroying himself utterly by his lack of concentration he
couldn¡¯t even remember going to Divination and Transfiguration
was all a blur to him. But somehow he found himself here, after
dinner, supposedly working on his Transfiguration essay while
Draco wrote back to that Archeon person.
It was crazy, utterly and horribly crazy. And yet he hadn¡¯t been
able to take his eyes off Draco for the rest of the day when the
blonde was around. That was probably why Transfiguration was so
blurry and he had no idea about what he should be writing this
essay on. His thoughts were all scrambled up in his head, popping
into conscious thought at peculiar moments. ¡®Why was he so
angry about the mention of those rumors?¡¯ had slipped into his
mind when Snape was talking about skewering butterfly wings¡- or
at least that¡¯s what Harry hoped he had been talking about.
¡®Maybe he wasn¡¯t, maybe he was just angry because of what
Narcissa Malfoy had done. Or maybe he was angry about the
veiled comment about the rumors,¡¯ had repeated around in his
head during Divination. And the worst, ¡®What if he was angry
because he would never want me romantically?¡¯ popped up right
around dinnertime. Harry had almost choked on the air he was
breathing, causing Ron to ask him if he was ok and Hermione to
look at him suspiciously.

¡°Harry would you mind if you stopped staring at me? You

haven¡¯t blinked in the past five minutes. It¡¯s rather disturbing.¡±

Harry blinked quickly a few times at Draco¡¯s words. When he

looked back at the blonde, Draco had returned to his letter and
gave no sign of wanting to ask why Harry had been staring at him.
It was strange but a small relief to Harry.

Whether Draco knew, guessed, or didn¡¯t care about what Harry

had been thinking of that evening was not broached by either of
them, but Harry couldn¡¯t help thinking as he fell asleep that night
that Draco had probably guessed.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Ties that Bind

¡°But I don¡¯t understand why it¡¯s taking so much of his time to

organize the funeral. Isn¡¯t that what the people he writes to are
supposed to do?¡± Harry mused, sitting in the Gryffindor Common
Room opposite Ron and Hermione.

¡°Well that depends on what kind of a funeral he is going to give

his father,¡± Hermione replied crisply.

¡°Huh?¡±

¡°Well, most of the ideas that you and I would have of funerals are
more muggle than wizard,¡± Hermione explained. ¡°As muggle-
borns began to filter into the Wizarding World, they brought their
traditions with them. So the older wizarding families, like Ron¡¯s,
would probably stay with the strict wizarding traditions.¡±

¡°So what¡¯s the difference?¡± Harry asked, looking to Ron.

¡°It¡¯s a family thing.¡± Ron shrugged. ¡°Only relations can attend.

And then they bury the guy.¡±

Hermione sighed. ¡°What he¡¯s saying is, that in ancient wizarding

customs there¡¯s no wake and no ¡®funeral¡¯ in our sense. Just the
burying part, if you want to think in muggle terms. The family
members meet at the house of the¡- person who just died, and they
process to the family graveyard or mausoleum. Only those related
by blood can then enter the place where the body is going to be
buried and¡- bury the body.¡±
¡°What¡¯s probably taking all of Malfoy¡¯s time is fighting
everyone who wants his dad to have a more modern burial, with
speeches and stuff,¡± Ron mused. ¡°But if there¡¯s any family that
will stick to tradition like that, it would be the Malfoys.¡±

But Harry didn¡¯t process Ron¡¯s words, thinking instead of how

Hermione had described the burial process. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later I
have to go talk to Draco.¡±

As Harry hurried out of the Gryffindor Common Room, Ron

frowned. ¡°What¡¯s he upset about?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hermione replied.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry stormed through the portrait hole, ignoring Medusa¡¯s
ranting, and headed straight for the bedroom where he knew Draco
would still be working on something. The blond didn¡¯t even look
up when Harry entered.
¡°I¡¯m not letting you bury your father by yourself.¡±

Draco paused in what he was writing and looked up at Harry.

¡°This is not up for discussion.¡±

¡°Bloody hell, Draco, it¡¯s not damn healthy what you¡¯re doing!
Your father died three days ago and all you¡¯ve done now for two
days is push people away.¡±

¡°There is no other Malfoy family. I will deal with it.¡± Draco

began to write again.

Harry glared at Draco across the room for a minute and the blond
ignored him. ¡°I¡¯m family,¡± Harry hissed.
The quill shook in Draco¡¯s fingertips. ¡°What makes you say
that?¡± the blond asked in a strained voice.

¡°Your father was a Veriae. You are a Veriae. I am your Veriae

bonded. That makes me family, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

¡°Not by blood.¡±

¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I can still walk with you, can¡¯t I?¡±

Draco sighed. ¡°You¡¯re not going to leave me alone until I agree

to this, are you?¡±

¡°No.¡±

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered, ¡°Bloody Gryffindor,¡± under

his breath before looking up at Harry. ¡°Fine. You can walk with
me.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abandoning his homework for his own sense of urgency, Harry
headed for the library the first minute he could after classes had
ended for the day. Harry quickly realized that he had no idea where
one would store the kind of subject material he was looking for in
a library setting, and therefore had to turn to Madam Pince for
help. She looked rather surprised when a young teenage boy, Harry
Potter no less, asked for where one would find books on wizard
etiquette, but she gave him directions to a remote corner of the
library and two hours later Harry found what he was looking for.
Many of the books he looked through had been about how muggle
culture had been integrated into wizarding society. But that
wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d wanted. With a family like the Malfoys, he
had to go looking for the oldest book on wizard etiquette he could
find. He finally found it buried on the lowest shelf in the corner, so
covered with dust that he sneezed when he pulled it off the shelf.
Placing it on the table where he¡¯d thrown his book bag produced
yet another cloud of dust and another sneeze.

Harry began flipping through its see-through-thin pages, bypassing

the long section on wizarding naming ceremonies to the section on
funeral etiquette. Now that he was going to attend Lucius
Malfoy¡¯s funeral, he wanted to know everything that would be
expected of him, even if the only two in attendance would be
Draco and himself¡- or maybe more because the only two in
attendance would be Draco and himself. It was not that he did not
trust Hermione to have her facts straight, but to be sure he didn¡¯t
miss something important, something that maybe only Draco
himself would find important.

After half an hour of reading, Harry found that his only problem
was finding his family¡¯s colors. He didn¡¯t think that they had
any, and wondered if the Potter family was even old enough to
have family colors or a family crest and plus he had no idea how to
find out if they did. But the book said that in the absence of family
colors, in the instance of an orphan for example, the mourning
clothes would only be black with the dark red cuffs. Of course,
Harry did not own proper wizarding mourning robes, but he
figured that Hermione could change the color of the cuffs on his
normal robes easily enough.

Harry picked up the book to close it and place it back on the shelf
before he headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. As he did so,
the page he¡¯d just finished reading turned, and the heading of the
next section caught his eye.

Wizarding Engagements and the Marriage Rite

Harry bit his lip as he stood there for a second and then sat back
down. He knew that engagements in the wizarding world gave
younger wizards a status in a way very different from the muggle
world where legal status was based on age. What if there was
something else about it that Harry didn¡¯t know? He hadn¡¯t really
pressed Hermione for any details for fear that she would jump to
the conclusion that he was going to propose to Draco in order solve
this legal fix that Draco - and subsequently himself thanks to Rita
Skeeter - was in. But, he admitted to himself, it was a real
possibility, even if it was very far-fetched. In fact, Draco himself
was probably not even thinking of it as a remote possibility. No,
only he was¡- and Harry didn¡¯t even know what he would be
getting himself into.

Sitting back in the chair, Harry began to read.

The information to remember about wizarding etiquette concerning

engagement and marriage was a bit more complex than that on
funerals, which made Harry decide to write it out to make sure he
did not forget anything crucial.

The book broke any relationship down into two beings, the
caretaker of the pair (called the ¡°maritus¡±) and the one who was
taken care of (called the ¡°marita¡±). In a case with a heterosexuals
the caretaker was always male and the one taken care of was
always female. In a case with homosexual partners, the two would
decide which would take the traditional ¡°male¡± role and which
would take the traditional ¡°female¡± role. This, the book stated
explicitly, had no connotation to what role the partner took in the
sexual relationship between the two.

First there was a long courtship process that by now Harry and
Draco had completely skipped over and rendered useless seeing as
they had shared sleeping quarters, something that was forbidden
during the courtship ritual.
An engagement proposition could only occur after the maritus had
gained permission from both his own family and the family of the
marita. This permission could come only after proper fulfillment of
the courtship rituals, which he and Draco would have to skip
anyway. The maritus would then kneel before the marita and
request, ¡°Where I am Gaius, there you are Gaia?¡± (slightly
different than the traditional marriage vows, spoken in the first
language that the maritus had learned). If the marita accepted,
he/she would reply ¡°Where I am Gaia, there you are Gaius¡±. The
maritus would then place the engagement ring on the marita¡¯s
finger and the marita would do the same for the maritus.

In preparation for a traditional wizarding wedding, it was the job of

the marita to provide the robes for both partners. Traditionally the
clothing had to be hand sewn by the marita, but over time the
custom had evolved so that the marita only had to pay for the
clothes. The maritus would pay the ¡°bride price¡± of the marita to
the head of the marita¡¯s family, or the closest male guardian of
the marita in the event that the marita had no family. This price
was set by tradition of how wealthy and noble the family was that
the marita was marrying into, and not, as muggles had used it, set
by how much the marita was worth to the marita¡¯s family.

The actual wedding ceremony was done outside the doorway of the
house that the couple were going to live in. The marita was walked
up the driveway surrounded by the marita¡¯s family, and was lead
by his/her closest male relative/guardian. The maritus waited just
outside the closed doors to the house and when the marita reached
the doors, he/she was given over to the maritus.

The rite of marriage itself had three parts. First the marriage vows
were given in the language of the birthplace of the two to be
married, a symbol of the connection between not only the two to
be married but that there was now a connection between the lands
that the two came from as well. ¡°Where you are Gaia, I am
Gaius¡± was spoken by the maritus, to which the marita replied,
¡°Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia¡±. The wedding rings were then
exchanged. Then the wedding vows were said again, this time in
Latin, to invoke the forces of magic themselves to watch over the
couple to be married. ¡°Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaius,¡± was said by the
maritus, to which the marita replied, ¡°Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia.¡±

The next part of the marriage was the opening of the house doors,
in which the couple quite literally opened the doors of the house. If
the doors would not open it was a sign that the magical forces
looked down on the marriage for some reason and the ceremony
could not continue (Harry had no idea what would happen if the
doors wouldn¡¯t open no one had recorded what would happen in
such an event.). The marita was then carried over the threshold into
the house (for it was considered unlucky if the marita tripped over
the threshold when entering the house) and was carried to the ball
room where the third part of the wedding took place: the traditional
dances.

This was something that wasn¡¯t strange to Harry. Muggles used

the same kind of dances at their weddings. The couple would
dance first (and at this point they were considered married), then
the marita would dance with the closest male guardian/parent to
him/her, and finally the maritus would dance with the closest
female guardian/parent to him/her. In cases with homosexual
pairings, the gender of the person either partner danced with did
not change.

But what surprised Harry the most was that it seemed to be proper
for an engagement to last for years and then be dissolved without
marriage. Even after the elaborate courtship ritual, it was proper in
the wizarding world for the partners to be split, either for family or
their own reasons. If the engagement terminated while a partner
was under seventeen, that partner would return to being not an
adult, or not legal, in the wizarding community. But if the
engagement terminated after both partners were of legal age, they
would retain their legal status. And in the case that a partner died
while another was under the legal age, that surviving partner would
still remain legal.

When Harry entered their bedroom that night, Draco did not
comment on how late Harry was or how Harry had missed dinner.
Neither boy spoke, both too enveloped in their own thoughts to
voice them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Great Hall was a buzz of hushed excitement the next morning
and Harry realized through the haze of half-shaken-off sleep that
there were no more missing students at the Gryffindor table. His
gaze shifted sharply to the Slytherin table as Draco took his
customary seat in-between Crabbe and Goyle. They weren¡¯t
eating as they normally were but were sitting there looking
imposing, for once at their own housemates. The subjects of their
gazes were sitting across from Draco, looking as out of place as
First Years before the Sorting.
This morning Blaise and Pansy couldn¡¯t even look at Draco,
decked out in the same colors he¡¯d been in since the beginning of
the week and would remain in until his father¡¯s funeral. Draco, on
the other hand, looked as regal and condescending as ever, acting
as if the two opposite him were not worth his time.

Harry frowned. He didn¡¯t know how friendships worked in

Slytherin, but from what he¡¯d seen in Malfoy Manor, those two
had cared for Draco in a way that friends cared for each other, but
Blaise, at least, had betrayed whatever ties he¡¯d had with Draco.
Pansy hadn¡¯t done that as far as Harry had seen. Yet she acted
just as Blaise did, ashamed of her own actions.
Draco nodded only to Crabbe and Goyle as he left the table,
walking towards the dungeons. They began to load food onto their
plates as if they had just discovered what lay on the table, and
Pansy whispered something in Blaise¡¯s ear.

¡°Harry?¡± Ron¡¯s voice redirected Harry to the Gryffindor side of

the room. ¡°You¡¯re being rather obvious,¡± he muttered under his
breath, and Harry looked down the table to see most of the
Gryffindors looking at him and whispering to each other.

Just great. They were probably wondering if there was any

connection from that article to his behavior. At least no one had
made a scene yet.

Movement caught Harry¡¯s eye and he hastily stood as Blaise left

the Great Hall.

¡°Harry?¡± Hermione asked. ¡°You haven¡¯t touched your

breakfast.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll see you in class,¡± Harry said hurriedly and left the room.

¡°Malfoy,¡± Ron mouthed and Hermione nodded, returning to the

parchment in front of her. Ron watched for the next few minutes as
she wrote franticly, crossed things out, and scribbled notes around
other scribbles.

¡°What are you doing?¡± Ron asked finally, scooting closer so he

could see over her shoulder.

¡°I¡¯m plotting. What does it look like I¡¯m doing?¡±

¡°Scribbling on a piece of parchment.¡±

Hermione gave him a look that showed she was not amused. Ron
shrugged and returned to his breakfast. ¡°Just tell me what you
come up with so I can help this time.¡±

Harry managed to cut Blaise off in the hallway before the Medusa
portrait.

¡°Get out of my way Potter.¡±

¡°I don¡¯t think I will.¡±

¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to deal with you right now.¡±

¡°I don¡¯t think Draco¡¯s in the mood to deal with you right
now.¡±

Blaise¡¯s eyes took on an appraising look, like a cat eyeing a

canary. ¡°Well, well, it seems as if rumors are true for once, Potter.
Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange that you¡¯re using Draco¡¯s first
name so casually? I don¡¯t recall you doing so in previous years.¡±

Harry refused to be baited. ¡°I really don¡¯t care what you recall or
not. I think you must have a class to get to, Zabini. Why don¡¯t
you go there?¡±

Blaise¡¯s eyes narrowed as he took a step closer to Harry. Harry

didn¡¯t move.

¡°I¡¯ve got one thing to say to you, Potter. I¡¯ve known Draco
since I was four. You can¡¯t say the same. I¡¯m watching you
Potter, and you¡¯d better not hurt him. ¡®Cause if you do, I¡¯ll
string you up before the Dark Lord faster than you could draw your
wand.¡±
¡°Strange, and here I thought it was only Draco you¡¯d betray to
the Dark Lord. Guess I was wrong.¡±

Blaise¡¯s face twisted in fury and his mouth opened to speak only
to be cut off by a calm and icy voice.

¡°I think you should leave now, Blaise.¡±

Draco stood off to one side as if he¡¯d been watching the scene
unfold before him. Blaise¡¯s mouth snapped shut with an audible
click. He nodded once to Draco, glared at Harry, and walked back
up the corridor.

¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that. I could have taken care of him,¡±

Draco said softly as Blaise rounded a corner and disappeared from
sight.

¡°I¡¯m a Gryffindor remember?¡± Harry grinned lopsidedly at the

blond. ¡°I do weird things like try to protect those I care about.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco swirled his pumpkin juice in his right hand as he waited for
Crabbe and Goyle to finish their narrative of how they¡¯d beaten
on some first year Hufflepuff that afternoon, nodding absently in
their direction to show he was paying attention. His eyes scanned
the room, meeting a few cautious looks that were sent his way.
Blaise¡¯s comment to Harry had been accurate after all. Talk had
been spreading. Why would it not, after all?
He hid a smirk behind his goblet as he took a sip. They were much
more subdued than the last time Harry¡¯s ¡°love life¡± had come to
the front page of the paper. Of course, the fact that he was a boy
probably made people less likely to believe it. It just sounded more
far-fetched than what Skeeter had thrown at Harry before. Of
course, the last time she¡¯d been attacking Harry, he¡¯d been
helping. But he was surprised that he hadn¡¯t received any
Howlers¡- or angry letters if not Howlers. It just went to show how
much power the Malfoy name really had.

¡°Oi! Malfoy!¡±

Draco turned slightly to look at the seventh year Slytherin that had
called his name down the Slytherin table, interrupting Crabbe¡¯s
explanation of how they¡¯d chucked the first year (stunned and
growing fingernails in strange places) into a tickle-me-silly-rose-
bush. All conversation stopped as he locked gazes with the other
boy.

¡°When you¡¯re done with Potter tonight, why don¡¯t you come
down to the seventh year dorms!¡±

Across the hall at the Gryffindor table, Harry stood abruptly,

looking murderous. And if looks could kill, the seventh year would
have died purely from the look Snape sent at him from the staff
table.

Draco however, stared at the boy unblinking. In a cocky salute, the

boy lifted his goblet in a toast to Draco. Draco blinked. The goblet
shattered, pumpkin juice flying everywhere, the sharp pieces of the
cup attempting to embed themselves in the soft flesh of his face
and neck.

¡°I don¡¯t think you could keep up with me¡± Draco¡¯s calm voice
seemed to echo down the Slytherin table, just loud enough so that
the now-bleeding boy could hear the words, but not the rest of the
hall.

¡°Mr. Goldstien¡± Snape¡¯s voice promised many unpleasant

things as he appeared at the Slytherin¡¯s elbow. ¡°We need to
discuss your code of behavior. In my office. Now. Apparently, a
three day suspension was not enough to curb your rule breaking
streak.¡± Snape looked down the table at the other Slytherins, his
eyes stopping at every one that had just returned that day from the
suspension. ¡°Does anyone share Mr. Goldstien¡¯s sentiments?
I¡¯m sure he would be happy to have your company.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen Snape talk to Slytherins that
way!¡± Ron whistled in appreciation. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s still a greasy
git, but that was really something!¡±
Hermione hid a smile behind her book at Ron admiring Snape.
Harry though, looked as if he almost didn¡¯t hear Ron, staring into
the fireplace that lit the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione
frowned as she looked at his sullen eyes which flickered in the
firelight.

¡°Harry?¡± He looked up as if he had nothing better to do at that

moment other than stare into the flames. ¡°Are you feeling
alright?¡±

¡°He¡¯s just as shocked as I am that Snape started beating on

Slytherins!¡± Ron broke in cheerfully and Harry nodded to his
friend¡¯s statement, a false smile on his lips.

¡°Are you thinking about the funeral?¡± Hermione saw through his
smile instantly.

¡°No. I¡¯m not.¡± And he wasn¡¯t.

¡°If I were him, I¡¯d be thinking about the trial, ¡®Mione,¡± Ron
interjected before Hermione could continue questioning Harry.
¡°What do you mean? Malfoy¡¯s dad left everything to him, so all
he has to do is prove that and he gets his inheritance,¡± Hermione
pointed out logically.

¡°The only one I can think of who could bring Malfoy¡¯s

inheritance into question is his mother. That won¡¯t work against
his own mother, Hermione. And she¡¯s got Malfoy¡¯s age on her
side, too.¡± He leaned in eagerly as he came to his conclusion.
¡°Before, Malfoy¡¯s dad used to sway the Ministry purely with
money. But Malfoy doesn¡¯t have all that money right now, since
that¡¯s what they¡¯re going to court about!¡±

Hermione looked stunned. Ron had obviously done some serious

thinking on the situation. Harry, looking back at the fireplace,
commented on how Ron seemed to have thought the entire
scenario through.

¡°Well,¡± Ron looked sheepish. ¡°I told Malfoy he was eventually

going to get what was coming to him and, no offence Harry, but I
think this is when he¡¯s finally going to get it.¡±

¡°None taken.¡± Harry managed a smile at his friend. ¡°But,¡± he

thought as he turned their conversation to other topics, ¡°I¡¯m
going to help make sure that won¡¯t happen.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco was lounging on the sofa, having stopped his
Transfiguration work ¡°only for a minute to rest his eyes¡±. He
only realized he¡¯d been dozing for half an hour when he was
shaken out of his stupor by the portrait door closing as entered the
room.
¡°So how are things on the Gryffindor side of the school?¡± Draco
drawled as he again looked at the Transfiguration essay he had to
write.
Harry looked surprised that Draco had asked such a question. ¡°Er
¨C fine I guess.¡±

¡°I wasn¡¯t actually interested,¡± Draco replied pointedly as Harry

plopped into the armchair facing the sofa.

The Gryffindor shrugged carelessly. ¡°So then, how are things at

the Slytherin end of the school?¡±

¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. You¡¯d have to go to the Slytherin Common

Room to find that out.¡±

Harry grinned lopsidedly. ¡°Yes, I was planning on doing that but I

thought I¡¯d check with you first to see if you knew and save me
the trip by telling me.¡±

¡°Sarcasm does not suit you, Harry.¡±

¡°If you say so.¡±

¡°I do.¡±

A pause. ¡°So when is your appearance in court?¡±

Draco hid his surprise as Harry waited for an answer. ¡°Monday.¡±

¡°Monday? That soon after the funeral?¡±

¡°Of course. You¡¯re not thinking like a Slytherin, Harry. If

Narcissa had requested Friday, I could then say that the funeral
was on Friday and move it to a date of my choice, whatever was
convenient enough for me. Saturday or Sunday would be
convenient for me and therefore are out of the question. But since I
already miss Friday¡¯s classes, it¡¯s only more inconvenient for
me to miss Monday¡¯s as well. Anything to throw off your
opponent, Harry. You¡¯d be surprised how the little things can
undermine people.¡±

¡°So who¡¯s going to be there?¡±

¡°Myself, my godfather, my mother, Archeon as holder of my

father¡¯s will, and the Wizengamot.¡±

¡°What if I wanted to come?¡± Harry¡¯s voice sounded as if he

didn¡¯t care whether he went or not, but Draco wasn¡¯t fooled.

¡°You¡¯re already coming to the funeral, Potter Don¡¯t push it.¡±

¡°Why can¡¯t I come?¡±

¡°You¡¯re not involved.¡±

Harry bit his lip for a second, as if weighing some decision in his
mind. ¡°I could be,¡± he whispered.

Draco¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as Harry refused to meet his gaze.

¡°What are you getting at?¡±

¡°Look, correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but it¡¯s your word against the
person the world sees as your mother. She says you should not
inherit and you say that you should.¡± Harry paused and fumbled
for words. ¡°Your¡- your dad¡¯s not there anymore to make sure
the outcome is what you want.¡± Draco caught the double
implications of Harry¡¯s words. Harry was dancing around the
subject of bribery, an option that was not open to Draco. ¡°I don¡¯t
know what kind of sway Narcissa Black holds, but in the worst
case scenario she would be equal to what your father used to hold.
Even without that, she¡¯s got wizarding law on her side because
you¡¯re not legal yet and she is.¡±
Draco sighed. He already had thought through this vicious circle of
logic himself. ¡°Harry, come to the point.¡±

¡°If I came as your fianc¨¦, then you would be legal and there
would be nothing they could do to stop your inheritance seeing as
the whole problem arose because you aren¡¯t a legal adult yet.¡±

There. He¡¯d said it. Harry waited for Draco¡¯s response. But
there wasn¡¯t one. The seconds seemed to stretch into lifetimes as
Draco sat silent, his eyes looking down at his Transfiguration text
book without seeing the printed words.

The blond shuddered as he breathed out slowly and spoke, his

voice sounding dead to Harry¡¯s ears. ¡°That is not an option. I
will not allow something as trivial as legality to influence
something like that.¡± Gathering his books, Draco stood and
headed towards the bedroom, pausing at Harry¡¯s words.

¡°At least we agree on that. If I were to say any vows, they would
be real.¡±

Chapter Thirty-Four: Black Marble, White Marble, and Gold

Ron was just finishing the last of his History of Magic essay when
Hermione excitedly pulled him over to an abandoned corner of the
Gryffindor Common Room.

¡°I finished!¡± she said excitedly as she pushed him down into a
chair and sat down in the opposite one.

¡°Finished what?¡±

¡°My plan for revenge on Rita Skeeter.¡±

Now Ron was interested. ¡°I¡¯m in.¡±

¡°You don¡¯t even know what it is yet.¡±

¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. What are we doing?¡±

Hermione smiled and outlined the plan. ¡°Well, first I wanted to go

after her personally and practice some spells on her, but I couldn¡¯t
do that until vacation and by that time it would be to late for this
plan. What I want to do is discourage her from ever writing about
Harry ever again.¡±

¡°Sounds good. How do we do it?¡±

¡°Well, the only reason she gets to write the articles on Harry is
because she uses her animagus form to snoop around for
information. She then has something that no other reporter has,
inside information on Harry Potter. But what if we took that
away?¡± Hermione¡¯s eyes glittered with triumph. ¡°What if we
gave the Prophet another reporter, closer to Harry Potter than Rita
Skeeter could ever be? Someone like those who really know
him?¡±

¡°People like us!¡±

¡°Exactly. And since you¡¯re willing to help, and if we can get

Ginny to help too, we can have one reporter for all the major
journalism outposts.¡±

¡°But will Harry go with it though?¡± Ron looked skeptical. ¡°I

mean, it would kinda be like spying on our own friend.¡±

¡°But he¡¯ll get to decide what gets printed. He knows we

wouldn¡¯t print anything bad or untrue and he knows that if he
wanted something kept secret we could keep it. So why wouldn¡¯t
he?¡±

¡°Good point. We¡¯ll ask him first before we go through with it

though.¡±

¡°Of course. But going on the idea that he will. You, Ginny, and I
will write to the Prophet, the Quibbler, and Witch Weekly. We¡¯ll
offer to write articles about any of the newsworthy actions of
Harry Potter. What they won¡¯t know is that we¡¯ll shuffle all the
information between the three, so each publication will have some
details that the others won¡¯t. Therefore, they¡¯ll see our input as
priceless. Other than a stipend for our articles, we¡¯ll demand that
in return no other writer can be allowed to write an article
exclusively about Harry Potter or those connected to him.¡±

Ron¡¯s grin was akin to that of the grins normally seen on the
faces of his two brothers, Fred and George. ¡°Let¡¯s go ask Ginny
if she wants to help.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the next day, Draco refused to let himself think about the trial,
or Harry, or Harry¡¯s¡- idea of how to win the trial. The funeral the
next day, he reasoned, took precedence. The very fact that he was
putting off thinking of what Harry had said did not enter his mind,
although on some level he knew he was doing it.

Harry seemed to have realized that Draco did not wish to discuss
what he had brought up and kept his distance. But Draco could feel
the weight of his stare whenever they were in the same room
together, even though he ignored it.
He wouldn¡¯t allow himself to think about anything regarding the
trial until his father¡¯s funeral was over.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day of the funeral dawned bright and sunny, and as warm as
the weather can be in the third week of February. Dumbledore
himself had given his consent for Harry and Draco to miss both
Friday and Saturday, on the condition that they had to come to his
office immediately after they arrived back at Hogwarts Sunday
night. He presented them with four tickets for the Hogwarts
Express, two to go back to London that morning, and two to come
back Saturday afternoon. Harry was secretly relieved that
Dumbledore did not ask if they¡¯d rather travel by floo powder. He
didn¡¯t think either he or Draco would have been able to do that
yet.

The idea of a chaperone was not broached by anyone, and Harry

thought that there had to be some rule that they were breaking. As
the train was pulling away from Hogsmead Harry asked Draco if
that was true.

Draco thought for a moment. ¡°That sort of thing is done when

students are leaving the Hogwarts grounds and Hogwarts is still
responsible for them. So if anything happens than it the school that
is blamed. We are actually leaving the school and going home, like
on Christmas vacation, so if we get hurt its our fault and not the
school¡¯s. That¡¯s why we have to report back on Saturday.
We¡¯re not part of the student body at the moment.¡±

¡°Oh.¡±
Draco studied Harry for a moment as the boy across from him
looked out the window at the passing scenery. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you
wearing your family colors?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know what they are.¡± Harry replied truthfully. The only
color on Harry¡¯s clothes other than black was the dark red cuffs
(that Hermione had colored with a spell that morning).

¡°We¡¯ll have to find that out some time.¡± Draco spoke

thoughtfully, as his own gaze turned to the window.

Nothing more was said until they arrived at Kings Cross.

The same limo-that-was-actually-a-carriage that had greeted them

during Christmas vacation waited for them outside the station and
they rode in silence to the Manor. Ever so often Harry would look
over at Draco and, as the carriage got closer and closer to his
home, the blond paled just a little more. Harry didn¡¯t have to
guess to know what he was thinking, or rather remembering.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Manor itself didn¡¯t look like it had changed from the last
time they¡¯d seen it. Outwardly, one could almost believe nothing
had happened. Such delusions were shattered when Draco was
presented with a list of what artifacts had been broken beyond
repair by a shivering House Elf as they walked in the door.
¡°But we is fixing everything other than those, Master Draco sir,¡±
it said hurriedly.

¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Draco cut the creature off abruptly but with no
malice in his voice.

The House Elf¡¯s eyes fell sullenly to the floor. ¡°Master Lucius is
out on the terrace Master Draco, sir.¡±
Draco nodded and the House Elf disappeared. Together, Harry and
Draco walked through the first floor to the back gardens. A casket
of white marble, covered in a clear film which hummed of magic,
levitated there and Harry almost couldn¡¯t look at the former
Malfoy patriarch.

The Death Eaters had left Lucius¡¯s body untouched, except for
his wings which were broken beyond even the repair of skilled
House Elf magic. The tattered black wings, still in their steel form
from when he¡¯d died, had been arranged around his body, which
was dressed in what Draco knew had been his favorite outfit. At
his feet lay the familiar snake-head cane.

Harry had done his own research to know how to properly act
during the funeral, and stepped up to the casket as Draco did.
When Draco placed both hands on the foot of the casket, Harry
placed one of his on Draco¡¯s shoulder. Together they walked
slowly over the snow-covered land towards the very back of the
land owned by the Malfoy family.

The Malfoy¡¯s owned a mausoleum, which had been built in the

style of ancient Greek architecture. It was tucked away in a heavily
forested area, all gleaming white stone in contrast to the dark stone
of Malfoy Manor itself. The doors had been opened at dawn by the
House Elves, doors that were only to be opened when a body was
to be placed inside. Wizarding mausoleums, while rare in this day,
had long ago been built to expand as more members of the family
were added, so as to never run out of room. When a family built a
mausoleum, they would never have to build another. What had
fascinated Harry, in a grotesque manner, was that no body ever
placed in a wizarding mausoleum ever decayed. The magic inside
the mausoleum kept them looking as they did when the body was
first placed there. Husband and wife, or husband and husband, or
wife and wife, were placed together - to forever sleep next to each
other.

Personally, Harry was glad that Draco¡¯s father was going to sleep
alone for eternity, rather than sleep with Narcissa Black when she
died. He was sure that Lucius himself would have preferred it.

In the doorway Harry stopped and let Draco continue into the room
alone, his hand falling to his side as the young Malfoy patriarch
walked into the room. It was ornately carved, and Harry couldn¡¯t
help looking around from the doorway. There was one grave per
section of wall, so that no Malfoy was buried above another
Malfoy. Instead there were carvings of that Malfoy couple¡¯s life
carved both above and below the bodies on the wall. There was
only one spot in the room without a body, and Draco gently pushed
Lucius¡¯s casket towards it. He lined the casket up with the open
alcove in the wall and for a moment stood in contemplative
silence, his eyes looking over the ornate carvings of his father¡¯s
life. He then looked to his father and spoke three words, ¡°Pax
vobiscum, Pater.¡± Peace be with you, father. And then he pushed
the casket gently into the wall. The white marble of the casket
melded to that of the wall until Harry could not tell what had been
casket and what had been wall in the first place, and all that was
left was Lucius¡¯s body lying in the alcove immortalized by magic
for eternity.

Draco turned and began to walk towards Harry, slowing to a stop

at one of the bodies lying closer to the entrance of the mausoleum.
Harry could see the black wings that cradled the two bodies lying
there as if in sleep, one of them the only other Veriae that had
existed in the Malfoy family. Draco looked at his ancestor for only
a moment before again heading for the doorway.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco slowly disentangled himself from Harry and carefully left
the room leaving the other boy still sleeping. He couldn¡¯t sleep
any more tonight if he¡¯d tried. There were too many things
whirling around in his mind to allow him the solace of sleep.
Draco meandered past the sleeping pictures as he walked towards
what had been his father¡¯s rooms. He needed a place to think, and
his feet guided him towards one room as if by their own will.

He entered his father¡¯s study slowly, walking over to the fireplace

and calling on a small current of magic to heat the logs that had
been placed there. In the light of the flames the first piece of
jewelry that he would ever wear glittered like molten gold. The
Malfoy signet ring, one that had been made to fit his own finger.
The same ring that still adorned a hand of every single Malfoy
patriarch that he had seen in the mausoleum today. Now it was his
turn to begin wearing the mark that told the world of his heritage.

Wearing it though, brought his mind back to the trial and,

inevitably, back to Harry. Almost on a whim, Draco summoned a
House Elf and asked for it to bring him the Malfoy matrimonial
bands. Two rings that had been passed down for generations upon
generations.

The House Elf quickly appeared with a small wooden box made of
cedar. Draco thanked it before dismissing it and returning his
attention to the box itself, as if maybe the object in question could
give him the answer he sought.

Wedding rings were always unique to the pair that were to be

married. For the Malfoy family, this meant that the pair were one
of a kind jeweled masterpieces created once and never copied. But
engagement rings were passed down through the heirs of the
family. Anyone who had ever married a Malfoy would have worn
one of these rings during the engagement time period. His mother
had worn one of them.
But Harry wouldn¡¯t be like her. He wouldn¡¯t use something like
engagement for his own means, of that Draco was positive. It
wasn¡¯t something a Gryffindor would do¡- it wasn¡¯t something
Harry would do. Harry had to be doing another self-sacrificing
thing, he just had to be. Somehow, he¡¯d gotten it into his head
that the only way for Draco to retain his inheritance was to become
legal by wizarding standards. But what in Merlin¡¯s name was his
motive? He had to have a motive, even if it wasn¡¯t one of self
gain. But this kind of thing was not something you¡¯d do for a¡-
well¡- a friend. Even if engagements could be broken and had been
many times before, it was still not something done frivolously. If
that was the case, whenever teenagers wanted to be perceived as
adults for any small reason, they¡¯d just become engaged to
someone and break it when they wanted to! And no one did that; it
was a mockery to the marriage rite to do that. Harry would know
that, so why was he suggesting it? Draco doubted that such a thing
would be done even by people who had crushes on each other¡- but
that took out any motive Harry might have had. Unless... well,
unless Harry¡¯s feelings ran deeper than that, but they couldn¡¯t.
But if they did¡-

No, he just wouldn¡¯t even start going down that direction of

thought. His own feelings for Harry were confusing as they were,
he wasn¡¯t going to add that into the mess. Sighing, he closed the
small box¡¯s lid and let it drop into his pocket, Harry¡¯s words
coming back into his mind.

¡°If I were to say any vows, they would be real.¡±

Real? Real, true engagement vows would hold until the marriage
vows when the bonds of matrimony were made. Draco had seen
such vows, even those as sacred as the marriage vows, broken,
even if they had been real when made. His own parents had done
that. Reasons being good or bad, the marriage vows had been
broken. But with Harry¡- Draco couldn¡¯t do that with Harry.
Harry was his Veriae bonded. Were he to propose engagement to
Harry, it would be more than real, it would be binding. Completely
and utterly binding, never to be broken.

It scared him, those kinds of bonds. It wasn¡¯t the loss of freedom.

He¡¯d already ¡°lost¡± that by becoming Veriae bound to Harry.
No, what scared Draco was how easy it would be to make such a
proposal, how little restraint he had, and how quickly that little
restraint was crumbling.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry woke late that night to an empty bed. Slowly, he stretched

and headed out of Draco¡¯s wing. He knew where he would have
gone if he were Draco.

The door to what had been Lucius¡¯s study was closed, but light
crept under the doorway as Harry neared it.

Draco didn¡¯t look up as Harry entered the room and quietly

padded over to where he stood, looking at the fireplace.

¡°I was thinking about removing it,¡± Draco whispered. ¡°So that I
never have to see it again. But I don¡¯t think I will.¡± He turned
molten silver eyes to Harry¡¯s own. ¡°I think it would be better to
see it in real life than in nightmares.¡±

Harry nodded. Now that he was here, he wasn¡¯t really sure what
to do. He watched as Draco crossed to his father¡¯s desk, sitting in
what had been his father¡¯s chair. It reminded Harry of a throne,
but Draco didn¡¯t look much like a king sitting in it. More like a
lost prince who has been forced to come home and take control of
a kingdom plagued by war.

¡°Are you going to make this your study?¡± Harry asked.

¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s rather far to walk to from my room.¡±

Harry smiled. Draco would make this his own study, no matter if
he had to cross the entire manor to get to it, he was positive of it.

¡°Well then why don¡¯t you check it out?¡± Harry asked. ¡°Look
and see what¡¯s here before you decide.¡± He crossed to Draco and
leaned over the blond to open a drawer in the desk. ¡°For instance,
what¡¯s in this drawer?¡±

¡°That would be the quills, ink, and paper drawer.¡± Draco

drawled, pushing the center drawer back. ¡°I know that much,
Harry.¡±

¡°How about the others?¡± Harry asked, sitting on the arm of the
chair. ¡°There certainly are a lot of them.¡±

Draco smirked and pointed to the left side of the desk. ¡°Official
documents and records are on that side.¡±

¡°How do you know that?¡± Harry asked, pulling the three drawers
open and then shutting them. Draco was right, they were all full of
documents.

¡°That side would always be open when I would sneak in here to

see my father.¡±

¡°Oh. What about the other side?¡±

Draco frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was never opened when I was
in here.¡±

The blond leaned over and pulled at the top drawer handle. All
three drawers pulled out together to reveal that it was only one
drawer but three drawers deep.

¡°Whoa.¡± Harry blinked at what was stored in that drawer.

It was undoubtedly a pensive. Golden and decorated with diamond

gems, but a pensive nonetheless. Draco pulled it out and set it upon
the desk and they both could see the ornate writing carved at the
base of the large chalice-like holder of memories. Lucius Sergius
Malfoy

Draco and Harry looked at it for a moment. ¡°This wasn¡¯t

mentioned in the inventory in father¡¯s will,¡± he said at last.

¡°I wonder why,¡± Harry pondered. ¡°What could be in it that

would make him not mention it?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

¡°Shall we see?¡±

Draco looked at Harry in disbelief. ¡°What? We can¡¯t do that!¡±

¡°Why?¡±

¡°Because-¡° Draco cut himself off. There was no reason not to

anymore. His father was dead, there was no such thing as invasion
of privacy where his father was concerned anymore.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two boys landed in the foyer of the manor, right next to a
slight younger looking Lucius who was pacing back and forth on
the carpeted floor of the stairs.

Both jumped as a shriek echoed through the manor but Lucius

merely paused in his walking before beginning again. A cry and
another passed, but Lucius kept walking, ignoring the sounds.

There was a small pop to the left of the boys and they recognized
the house elf as Diddy. ¡°Mistress Narcissa is demanding your
presence now, Master Lucius, sir.¡±

Lucius nodded curtly to the House Elf before walking up the stairs
in a rushed, yet dignified, gait. Harry and Draco followed him
through the halls to Narcissa¡¯s former wing. When they entered
her bedroom they saw her lying on a mess of crumpled sheets,
covered in sweat. She was holding a small bundle in her arms as if
in distaste.

¡°Take him out of my sight, Lucius. After thirteen hours of labor I

don¡¯t want to see him!¡± she nearly shrieked at the man, and a
frightened wail came from the bundle.

Lucius wasted no time in walking around the bed and taking the
bundle of white silk from Narcissa¡¯s grip, the wailing stopping
immediately as it changed hands. He left without so much as a
word, Draco and Harry trailing along behind him.

As he left Narcissa¡¯s wing, Lucius¡¯s walk slowed and he began

to talk to the bundle cradled in his arms.

¡°I waited five years and fifteen hours for you, my son.¡±
He walked through the manor, heading towards the wing that
would be Draco¡¯s own.

¡°Your mother wanted a girl. She told me that over and over. She
wanted a daughter to make just like herself. But the fates instead
smiled upon my wishes, Draco Lucius Malfoy, though I doubt
you¡¯ll ever use the middle name until you are grown and I am no
longer here.¡±

The baby cooed at him as Lucius stopped at the doorway to

Draco¡¯s wing.

¡°This is where you will grow up, my son. The House Elves just
finished it yesterday while your mother was screaming.

Baby Draco giggled as Lucius swung open the door and walked
inside.

Draco¡¯s rooms hadn¡¯t changed over the years. More things had
been added as Draco had obtained more possessions, but the
skeleton of what Draco would live in now was there, even down to
the same color sheets on the bed.

¡°Your crib is in my rooms at the moment, but when you grow out
of it this is where you will sleep.¡±

Lucius walked around the room and stopped at the long ceiling-to-
floor window that looked out over the land surrounding Malfoy
manor.

¡°And this, my son, will someday belong to you and whomever is

outstanding enough to be deemed worthy of your life partner. I¡¯m
sure Narcissa will press for another child, a daughter most likely,
but you can be assured, my son, that when I die there will be no
one to stand against your claim to what you are entitled. You are
my heir and my joy.¡±

The hand that was not holding the baby moved to touch the baby
Draco¡¯s cheek. Baby Draco giggled loudly and grabbed Lucius¡¯s
ring finger in both hands. The little hands found the Malfoy signet
ring and pulled it off Lucius¡¯s finger. It immediately went into
baby Draco¡¯s mouth and he bit down as hard as he could with his
toothless gums.

Lucius chuckled at Draco as he took back the ring. ¡°That too, will
be yours.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The memory shifted to Lucius sitting alone in his study writing
something. It looked like a letter. But before either of the boys
could see what it was the door to the study swung open and a five-
year-old Draco walked into the room with a loud, ¡°Father!¡±
Lucius looked up at Draco. ¡°What is it Draco?¡±

¡°Mother says I have to wait until I¡¯m eleven to learn to fly on a

broom like everyone else!¡±

Lucius raised an eyebrow.

¡°And I want to learn now!¡±

¡°And you shall.¡± The elder Malfoy placed his quill down on the
desk and walked over to where Draco stood with an ecstatic smile
on his face. ¡°I will teach you.¡±

¡°Yay!¡± Draco let out a happy cry and hugged his father before
hurrying him out of the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again the memory shifted, jumping foreword six more years, by

the look of Draco. The eleven year old who Harry had met in
Diagon Ally was seated in bed pouting. Lucius and Narcissa stood
in the doorway.

¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with the boy,¡± Narcissa spoke,

annoyance dripping in her tone. ¡°He refuses to go to sleep as if he
thinks that if he doesn¡¯t sleep he won¡¯t have to go to school
tomorrow!¡±

A wry smile played about Lucius¡¯s lips as he closed the door with
a ¡°Go to bed yourself, Narcissa. You look like you could use the
sleep,¡± and approached the bed.

¡°Now why are you giving your mother a hard time, Draco?¡±
Lucius asked in a mock-angry voice.

¡°I don¡¯t want to go to school,¡± Draco stated.

Lucius motioned for Draco to move over on the bed and he slid in
next to Draco. ¡°School is a necessary evil that we all have to go
through, son.¡±

¡°But I don¡¯t want to. Why can¡¯t I go where you wanted me to

go? It sounds much better than this place,¡±

¡°I could not agree more, but your mother insisted.¡±

¡°I don¡¯t care what mother insisted.¡±

¡°Draco you should not say such things of your mother.¡±

¡°I¡¯m sorry, father.¡±

¡°It is quite alright, Draco. Now you should get to sleep.¡±

Draco pouted but it was a look of one who knew he¡¯d lost the
original argument. Lucius got out of the bed as Draco snuggled
down into the covers. Lucius turned down the light of the room
with a wave of his hand and moved to the door as if to leave.

¡°Father?¡±

He stopped and turned to the boy in the bed. ¡°Yes Draco?¡±

¡°The House Elves said that when I was really little you would
sing to me when I was crying and I would stop. I don¡¯t remember
what song you sang.¡±

¡°That doesn¡¯t surprise me. I stopped needing to sing to you when

you were very little.¡±

¡°Would you sing now?¡±

Lucius nodded his consent and conjured a chair next to Draco¡¯s

bed. Draco¡¯s eyes fluttered closed as a low baritone began to fill
the room.

¡°Tell me why you¡¯re crying my son,

I know you¡¯re frightened like everyone,
Is it the thunder in the distance you fear?
Will it help if I say very near?
I am here.¡±
It became obvious that Draco was fighting sleep to listen to the rest
of the song, but in the middle of the chorus a second time his
breathing changed into the breathing of one asleep. Lucius began
the third and last verse and chorus in a quieter voice, so as not to
awaken Draco.

¡°Tell me why you¡¯re smiling my son.

Is there a secret you can¡¯t tell anyone?
Do you know more than men that are wise?
Can you see what we all must disguise
through your loving eyes?

And if you take my hand my son,

All will be well when the day is done.
And if you take my hand my son my son,
All will be well when the day is done.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry and Draco found themselves back in the study, the fire
dimming to cold embers. Harry looked over at Draco to see one
tear make its way down his face.
Harry leaned over and wiped it off with his thumb, his other arm
curling around Draco¡¯s waist. ¡°I think I know why your father
put those particular memories in the pensive,¡± he whispered.

¡°Why?¡±

¡°Voldemort is a Legimens, and a very good one. Those memories

are ones that your father considered so precious to him, he
couldn¡¯t bear the thought of Voldemort knowing them. So he kept
them safe.¡±
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train ride back to Hogwarts was more silent than the one
leaving the school, with both Harry and Draco back in the normal
Hogwarts uniform. Draco gazed out the window as the train took
them closer and closer to the school. After he¡¯d checked in with
Dumbledore, he would have to begin his school work. He had the
rest of today and all of tomorrow to finish all the assignments that
he¡¯d missed Friday and all that he would miss on Monday. He
would not let the trial inconvenience him as Narcissa so obviously
was trying to do.

This was such a mess. He had to gain his inheritance, he had to. It
wasn¡¯t just Malfoy Manor, or the money, or knowing that he had
won over Narcissa Black. His father had promised him everything.
He didn¡¯t remember it himself, but seeing the memory in the
pensive¡- loosing to Narcissa, loosing his inheritance, he would
loose his father¡¯s promise. In essence, he would be throwing that
away. And he would not do that¡- he could not do that. But if it
came down to it, would he allow himself to go the route of
engagement just for that?

Draco¡¯s eyes closed as he immersed himself deep in thought.

He¡¯d have to win. Not only for himself, not only for his father. If
he didn¡¯t win his inheritance, then he would have nothing, would
have to stay with his godfather. And Harry would have to stay with
him, the Veriae bond would make that happen. But for Harry to
stay that close to Snape would make him vulnerable. Voldemort
would order Harry brought to him.

Draco respected his godfather, maybe even loved him at times if

that were possible, but he did not know where his godfather¡¯s
loyalties lay in the approaching war. He could not risk Harry¡¯s
life if his godfather was given no choice but to obey Voldemort.
And he could not risk his godfather¡¯s life were his godfather to
defy Voldemort. No, the only way to protect both of them was to
keep his inheritance.

But engagement? Even as a¡- last resort? Engagement shouldn¡¯t

be used in such a careless way. If he were to propose to Harry¡- or
anyone really, he¡¯d want it to be real. Heart and soul included¡-
whatever heart and soul he possessed. Would Harry realize that if
he were to go through with it? Would he understand what it was?
Or would he treat it as another duty that he had to do, throwing it
away when Draco turned seventeen?

Draco¡¯s thoughts returned to the two bands of gold that had sat
comfortably on their silken pillow when he¡¯d looked at them the
night before. I finally realize what you meant Father, when you
said that. ¡®If I choose to¡±¡- I could keep my contact with Harry
to a minimum if I choose to. I didn¡¯t choose that route then,
Father¡- but I¡¯m not sure when it shifted. What would you think,
Father, if I were to ask you for permission to propose engagement
to Harry Potter? Would you laugh? I think you would. You saw it
coming. Even back then¡- yes, even when I was eleven years old
and you encouraged me to become friends with him¡- you knew
even that long ago. But you never told me. You never pushed me
into it. You let me deal with it, not minding that I never once asked
you for advice. Now I wish for your council and you aren¡¯t there
to give it to me. If I choose to¡- It was always my choice, wasn¡¯t
it? It just took me this long to realize it. I¡¯m going to ask my
godfather for permission in your place. He won¡¯t tell the Dark
Lord, will he? I don¡¯t think he will. You would not have taken
him into your confidence if he was untrustworthy. It would be too
dangerous for Harry to live under his roof, but it will not be a
disaster for him to play your role in this, I think. Unless, of course,
he does not give me permission. But we shall see what happens,
won¡¯t we?

And as Draco drifted off to sleep, lulled by the movement of the

train, his hand reached to touch the two shrunken items in his
pocket: his father¡¯s pensive, and the box that held the Malfoy
engagement rings.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Trial by Heart

Of all the things Professor Severus Snape expected to hear Draco

ask him during his entire lifetime, this was not one of them.

¡°Why in Merlin¡¯s name would you ask such a question?¡± he

asked, partly in shock, and partly hoping that Draco was not
serious in having an answer. ¡°And why, also, would you ask my
opinion?¡±

¡°It¡¯s very simple, Godfather. Legally, you¡¯re my guardian, and

that makes you my Auctor, so I have to have your approval.¡±

Snape sighed. ¡°Draco, this kind of a question puts me in a very

bad position. Please find someone else to act as your Auctor and
ask them. Do not ask me to give permission to such a thing.¡±

¡°And who would you have me ask? Dumbledore? I think not. I

did not choose who my Auctor would be, it just happened, and you
are my Auctor. I can¡¯t change that.¡±

¡°Then do not ask me for permission to propose an engagement

between yourself and Harry-Bloody-Potter!¡± Snape snapped. His
voice lowered to a calmer tone. ¡°Do not forget my status with the
Dark Lord. As such, there is no way I could give my consent.
Again, I beg you Draco, do not ask this of me.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lying to me. I don¡¯t care what you say, you¡¯re not a
Death Eater, not really.¡±

¡°And how would you know this?¡±

¡°I just do. And I can¡¯t get permission from anyone other than
you. But I will ask you a different question instead. As my
Godfather and my Auctor, would you do everything in your power
to allow me to propose an engagement to someone I felt worthy of
myself?¡±

Snape looked at Draco for a long moment before replying. ¡°If the
occasion arose where you found someone whom you deemed
worthy of engagement to yourself, as your Godfather, I would
happily give you permission to propose to that person. However, as
your Auctor, I would only allow you to marry someone whom you
not only deem worthy of yourself, but also deem worthy of sharing
your very heart and soul with as per your Veriae blood.¡±

Draco nodded, turning to leave. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Godfather. If I do

say the vows, they will mean more than just words do.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry couldn¡¯t eat breakfast, just pushed his food around on his
plate for a few minutes before finally giving up all hope of eating
any of it and excusing himself from the table. Hermione and Ron
watched him leave the Great Hall worriedly, but they had not
bothered to ask him what was on his mind today. They already
knew: today was Monday.
Draco was just leaving the bedroom when Harry entered the
portrait. The blond was dressed in clothing that Harry awkwardly
realized were probably three times more than all his clothing put
together. He had again deviated from the Hogwarts uniform to
appear in clothing similar to what Harry had first seen him wearing
in Diagon ally before he had started his first year at Hogwarts.

¡°I noticed you weren¡¯t at breakfast,¡± Harry muttered.

¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on having any,¡± was the crisp reply.

Harry shrugged. Now that he was in their rooms and in Draco¡¯s

presence, he had nowhere to focus his anxiety.

¡°Harry.¡± Harry looked up at Draco¡¯s almost hesitant tone.

¡°How serious were you on Wednesday?¡±

There was a question in the blonde¡¯s silver eyes, one that Harry
was not sure he understood. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have said anything if I
wasn¡¯t serious.¡± Somehow he hoped that he¡¯d said the right
answer.

Wordlessly, Draco crossed the room to where Harry was standing,

picking up a small, nondescript box from the mantle as he did so.
He stopped in front of Harry for a moment, looking down the few
inches that separated their heights, as if searching for some truth in
Harry¡¯s own gaze. Gently, Draco dropped to one knee, his hand
holding out the box toward Harry.

¡°Where I am Gaius, there you are Gaia?¡±

Harry¡¯s breath caught in his throat and he blinked in

astonishment. ¡°Where I am Gaia, there you are Gaius,¡± he
managed to say, using his own hand to open the box.

Two rings sat side by side on a white pillow inside the box. They
were golden bands, encrusted in diamonds and opals and carved
with the Malfoy family crest. Engraved on the inside of one were
the traditional words for engagement rings, ¡°Ubi tu Gaius¡±, and
other the other ¡°Ubi tu Gaia¡±. As Draco slipped the first onto
Harry¡¯s finger, it shifted in size to fit; the same with the ring that
Harry placed on Draco¡¯s finger.

Draco stood again and they stood there for a moment, both unsure
of what to do.

¡°Er ¨C I suppose we should kiss now,¡± Harry muttered, suddenly

finding his shoes very interesting.

Draco did not respond, but a moment later two fingers rested under
Harry¡¯s chin, pushing his face to an upward angle. Draco¡¯s
mouth descended to meet his own, like molten silver on magma
Draco¡¯s lips danced over his own. Draco¡¯s arms encircled
Harry¡¯s waist to pull him closer, and Harry groaned as the kiss
became more needful.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco, Harry and Snape walked through the door that Harry
himself had walked through the summer before, when he had been
charged with violation of the Decree for the Reasonable
Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of
Secrecy.
The room had changed very little since Harry¡¯s last visit. Instead
of the fifty or so members of the Wizengamot there were seven,
including one Cornelius Fudge who frowned slightly at Harry¡¯s
presence. The chair that he had sat in the year before was gone,
and standing almost exactly in it¡¯s place was a short and chubby
man. His face was round like a bowling ball, his hair salt and
pepper gray, and he smiled broadly at Draco as the blond crossed
the room towards him. Draco nodded to him, his eyes focused on
another occupant of the room, as if wary of her very presence.
Narcissa Black stood regally off to the side of the room, dressed in
clothing as rich as Draco¡¯s. She smiled coldly at her son, who
ignored her gesture completely except to mark her presence as a
threat in the room. Her smile seemed to wane when Harry stepped
up next to Draco, as if she was unsure as to the reason of his
presence in the room.

¡°Welcome gentlemen,¡± Fudge¡¯s smile oozed of forced

politeness. ¡°Shall we begin?¡±

¡°By all means,¡± Draco replied, nodding serenely to the members

of the Wizengamot seated before him.

¡°Minister, if may ask one thing. Before we start I would like it

made clear why Harry Potter is present. He was not mentioned in
my late ex-husband¡¯s will and is not a part of the family. His
presence here is completely irrelevant.¡± Narcissa¡¯s voice was
low and lilted, as if it was beneath her to even use the words
¡°Harry Potter¡± in a sentence.

¡°Harry Potter is family. He is my Veriae bonded and has every

right to be here,¡± Draco drawled.

The witch to the right of Fudge, a shallow, stick-like woman with

graying auburn hair cocked an eyebrow at that declaration. ¡°Then
are we to believe that you are indeed a Veraie, Mr. Malfoy?¡±

¡°I am.¡±

¡°And a magical creature cannot inherit in a wizard¡¯s will,¡±

Narcissa stated primly.

¡°Miss Black, let us begin by stating exactly what is at stake,¡±

Fudge smiled at her indulgently. ¡°And then you may bring up
such motions.¡±
The chubby man cleared his throat and unrolled a parchment that
he had been holding. ¡°This is the latest will of the deceased
Lucius Sergius Malfoy. It was signed three days before his
death.¡±

The man handed the parchment to Fudge who began to read it as

he continued speaking.

¡°Proper authenticity charms have been placed upon it as you will

see. In the will, Lucius Malfoy left the entire property of Malfoy
Manor here in England, the entire property of the Malfoy estate in
France, and the entire property of the Malfoy villa in Capua, along
with anything found within those properties to his son Draco
Lucius Malfoy. He stated that all of his monetary vaults in
Gringotts should be transferred to his son¡¯s possession. Familiar
guardianship of his son until his son has completed his seventh
year of Hogwarts, Mr. Malfoy stated, was given to Professor
Severus Snape.¡±

¡°Thank you Mr. Archeron for your assistance, you may leave
now.¡± The chubby man nodded to Fudge and waddled out of the
room.

¡°Now, Miss Black,¡± Fudge set the will down before him and
turned to look at Narcissa. ¡°You have challenged the right of
Draco Malfoy-¡° he nodded in Draco¡¯s direction, ¡°to accept this
inheritance on many charges. Would you please state them now?¡±

¡°Certainly Minister.¡± Narcissa smiled sweetly at the Wizengamot

and began to speak. ¡°My son, Draco Malfoy, inherited the
complete dominance of the Veriae blood in my late ex-husband,
Lucius Malfoy. As such, he is considered under the Ordiance of
Magical Creatures, to be outside of the wizarding race and
therefore unable to legally inherit anything from a wizard. Also we
must question the use of a ¡®familial guardian¡¯, if Lucius
intended for my son to inherit immediately after his death. Which
brings me to my last point, that if my son were to inherit under
wizarding law, he is not over the legal age. Thus he cannot manage
property or anything that is on that property.¡±

The smile Narcissa Black sent at her son was venomous. Draco,
however was unfazed, calmly twirling the Malfoy signet ring on
his finger.

¡°Well, Mr. Malfoy, we first shall see if we can quell Miss

Black¡¯s qualms.¡± Fudge¡¯s voice dripped honey but Harry could
almost see the laughter in Fudge¡¯s eyes, as if he already wished
Draco to fail. ¡°Now, you have already stated that you are a full
blooded Veriae?¡±

¡°I am a pure blood Veriae, Minister. However that has no bearing

on my inheritance since, under the amendment of 1869 to the
Ordinace of Magical Creatures, pure blood Veriae are to be treated
as pure blood wizards in all legal matters.¡±

Fudge blinked, the wizard two seats to his left nodding

approvingly at Draco¡¯s statement.

¡°Well¡- then that is one problem solved.¡± Fudge tried to look

cheerful and failed. ¡°Now, Mr. Malfoy your birthday is?¡±

¡°June fifth.¡±

¡°And how old are you?¡±

¡°Sixteen.¡±

Fudge¡¯s smile was one of a child in a candy store. ¡°So you are
not considered of legal status in-¡°
¡°No.¡±

Harry¡¯s voice cut off Fudge¡¯s statement before the minister

could continue in that self-assured tone.

¡°Draco is considered of legal status.¡±

¡°And why is that?¡± Fudge asked, turning a look upon Harry that
was somewhere between loathing and satisfaction.

¡°Because Harry and I are engaged,¡± Draco¡¯s calm voice cut into
the tension of the room.

The members of the Wizengamot began to whisper to each other as

Fudge stared at Draco as if the blond had just done something very
abnormal.

¡°Well, then¡- er-¡°

¡°Minister, we must be sure that, since this is a legal case, they did
not pantomime an engagement in order that Draco be considered
legal for this moment alone,¡± Narcissa¡¯s voice dripped poison.
¡°Now, Harry Potter has no wizarding blood relatives, but as stated
by late ex-husband in his will, Draco has a familial guardian.
Professor Snape, did you give your permission for Draco to
propose engagement to Harry?¡±

Harry realized why she sounded so smug. She thought that Snape
would have refused to allow Draco to propose engagement to him
because she thought him a loyal Death Eater.

¡°I gave Draco permission to propose engagement to anyone he

felt worthy of himself,¡± Snape stated coldly, staring down the
blond woman across the room.
¡°Well then,¡± the little witch on Fudge¡¯s right cleared her throat
for attention. ¡°Since Draco Malfoy is engaged, by law he is
considered legal to hold property, thus there is no reason why he
should not inherit what was written by Lucius Malfoy in his will.
All in favor?¡±

Six members of seven raised their hands immediately, Fudge

raising his a moment or so after the others.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Marked as His, Marked as Mine

Hermione and Ron found Harry almost immediately after he and

Draco stepped onto the school grounds. During their enthusiastic
greeting, Draco slipped into the throng of students escaping from
their last class of the day and Harry found himself guided to the
Gryffindor Common Room.

¡°So what happened Harry?¡± Hermione asked.

¡°Draco won.¡±

¡°What!¡± Ron sputtered. ¡°How?¡±

Harry started to explain what had happened, but Hermione

interrupted him.

¡°Harry, what¡¯s that on your finger?¡±

Harry looked down at the ring that sat on the ring finger of his left
hand. The gold glinted and the diamonds sparkled in the afternoon
light.

¡°Um¡- it¡¯s a ring?¡± Harry answered her question awkwardly.

Ron¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed Harry¡¯s, bringing it closer so
that he could look at it more closely.

¡°This is an engagement ring,¡± Ron said at length. When Harry

didn¡¯t respond, Ron continued. ¡°This is how Malfoy won, isn¡¯t
it?¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Harry said simply.

Hermione was watching Ron carefully, as if unsure of what the

redhead¡¯s reaction would be. But she was surprised when Ron
smiled cheerfully and leaned back in his seat with an almost
wistful expression.

¡°Gotta give Malfoy credit for that idea, although I still would
rather he lost. Did he mention yet when you¡¯ll be breaking it
off?¡±

¡°No.¡±

Ron shrugged. ¡°Oh well. Can¡¯t do it that soon anyway. You¡¯ll

have to keep up appearances for a while. Guess this is where we
come in, right ¡®Mione?¡±

Hermione was still confused, looking between Ron¡¯s carefree

expression and Harry¡¯s sullen one. ¡°What Ron?¡±

¡°With your idea. Listen Harry, Hermione had this idea in order to
keep all the other reporters off your back.¡±

¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-¡-..

Hermione carefully watched Ron and Harry walk down to dinner.

Harry was almost ignoring Ron¡¯s words, which at the moment
focused on the question of what Malfoy had bribed Harry with in
order to get him to go along with the appearance of engagement.
But Hermione noticed that while Harry hadn¡¯t told Ron his idea
was wrong, he hadn¡¯t enforced it either.

Hermione frowned slightly as they entered the Great Hall. She

would have to talk to Harry soon and find out what was really
going on.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco was surprised to see that Harry left dinner before him that
evening. Then again, something had been off with Harry ever since
they had gotten back to school from the trial. But the rest of the
Golden Trio had looked the same as they normally did, so Harry
couldn¡¯t have told Granger and Weasley about the engagement
yet. Not that Draco blamed him. After all, his own ring lay under
four or five concealment spells at the moment.
Pushing the rest of his dessert in Crabbe¡¯s direction, Draco stood
up from the Slytherin table and followed Harry.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry walked down to the lake, completely unaware of the Veriae

following him at a distance. He was torn between several emotions
which were battling for control anger at Ron assuming that his
engagement with Draco wasn¡¯t real, worry because maybe Ron
was right, fear that Ron was right, self-loathing for being upset at
Ron because there was no way Ron could have known Harry¡¯s
feelings about the engagement. It wasn¡¯t as if Harry had told him.
But how could he? From his reaction that afternoon, it was obvious
that Ron was not ready to understand how his feelings for Draco
had changed. Ron hadn¡¯t gone through what Harry had, so of
course he couldn¡¯t understand this shift of emotion.
Harry sighed, shivering against the cold night air. And what would
he do next? What could he do next? He knew that if he waited and
didn¡¯t tell Ron it would just make things worse later. Ron would
find out from someone else or in some other way and then he
would feel that Harry had not trusted him, or worse betrayed him.

And then what if Ron was right? Draco had seemed serious. Very
serious. And before that, when he¡¯d brought up the option of
engagement the first time, Draco wouldn¡¯t even think of it
because he didn¡¯t want to have a fake engagement. But¡- Draco
had never actually said they were truly getting married. They
hadn¡¯t talked about it at all in fact.

¡°You know, I¡¯m almost positive that it¡¯s been proven that
standing around outside without warm clothing leads to problems
with your health. But I could be wrong,¡± a voice drawled from
behind him and Harry looked up to see Draco watching him
looking bemused.

¡°I needed to think about something,¡± Harry muttered turning

back to look at the lake.

¡°Does your mind not work unless it¡¯s below freezing? Come to
think of it, that would explain a lot.¡±

In spite of himself Harry grinned at Draco¡¯s comment as the

blond moved to stand beside him.

¡°So what did they do this time?¡± Draco asked after a moment.

¡°What?¡±

Draco sighed. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that something happened either

before or during dinner to make you this way, and you were up in
the Gryffindor Tower before that. So what did they do?¡± He
explained as if he were speaking to someone who does not think
very fast.

¡°Ron¡- said something.¡±

¡°Ah, Weasel. I should have guessed.¡±

¡°Don¡¯t call him that.¡±

¡°When he¡¯s making you upset I¡¯ll call him what I want.¡±

¡°I¡¯m not upset.¡±

¡°Of course, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re standing out here attempting
to freeze yourself.¡±

¡°He really didn¡¯t say anything¡- much. He just saw the

engagement ring and asked me at what date we were going to
break it off.¡±

Draco glared at the snow on the ground as if it were offending him.

¡°How uncouth.¡±

Harry looked down at the snow as well. ¡°We¡¯re¡- not going to

break it off though, right?¡±

Draco was silent for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll explain my answer in two

ways. Logic would remind us that even when we leave here, it will
not change the fact that I am a Veriae and I am bonded to you. We
will have to live together regardless, and would not be able to
marry anyone else anyway. Therefore, there is no reason to break it
off.¡±

Harry felt hurt by this explanation for a reason he could not

fathom. He would have to live with Draco for the rest of his life, he
knew that. But just having that as a reason behind engagement and
then marriage¡-

But Draco did not give him time to finish that thought because he
continued speaking.

¡°And for the second way¡-¡± Draco¡¯s hand lifted Harry¡¯s chin
so that Harry¡¯s eyes caught his own. The blond leaned closer to
whisper in Harry¡¯s ear. ¡°I will remind you that it is I whom you
are engaged to. And I would not allow anything to break our
engagement.¡±

Draco¡¯s mouth found Harry¡¯s and Harry was lost in a tide of

what made Draco¡- Draco Malfoy. Arrogant, possessive, self-
assured, quick to anger, yet young, needful and Veriae. His arms
wrapped around Draco¡¯s shoulders, drawing him close. He could
feel Draco¡¯s hands slide down his cloak to rest at the small of his
back, and he could feel the two rings Draco wore through his
clothing as though they burned upon his skin. The Malfoy signet
ring and the Malfoy engagement ring. The right one that, mirrored
on his hand, marked him as Draco¡¯s and marked Draco¡¯s as his
own.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione looked up as Ron fell down into the sofa opposite her in
the slowly emptying Gryffindor Common Room.
¡°I just sent Ginny to the owlery with the letters we wrote,¡± she
told him.

¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Ron¡¯s voice sounded listless and uncaring.

Hermione frowned, noticing his haggard appearance.

¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Everything!¡± Ron shouted, startling the two first-years who
were whispering to each other in a corner. He fell back deflated
against the sofa¡¯s back. ¡°And nothing,¡± he whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t
know what to do.¡±

Hermione moved to his side and held out her arms to him. As he
fell into their security she pulled him close. ¡°What happened?¡±

¡°I saw them. Harry and Malfoy.¡±

Hermione waited as Ron paused, not rushing his words.

¡°I don¡¯t think¡- that they¡¯re going to break off the engagement¡-
ever.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°I saw them kissing ¨C again - down by the lake. I know they¡¯d
have to keep up appearances but that was going too far. Whatever
they¡¯re feeling, it¡¯s real, Hermione.¡±

Hermione rocked him slowly as he trailed off again.

¡°I don¡¯t know what to think! I don¡¯t know what to do! He¡¯s
my best friend, but it¡- it¡¯s Malfoy!¡±

¡°But you knew Harry-¡°

¡°Yes I knew Harry liked him, Merlin knows I walked in on them

kissing before, but that¡¯s not liking ¨C what I saw down there.¡±
Ron sighed. ¡°I just never thought anything real would come of
it.¡±

¡°Do you trust Harry¡¯s judgment?¡± Hermione whispered.

¡°I trust Harry. I don¡¯t trust Malfoy. If it were anyone else but
Malfoy, I¡¯d be happy for him!¡±

Hermione smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are some people you¡¯d have a
problem with, Ron.¡±

Despite himself, Ron grinned. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d have a problem if it

were Voldemort¡- or Snape¡- (1) But that still doesn¡¯t change the
fact that I just don¡¯t like this¡- commitment they¡¯re getting
into.¡±

Hermione thought for a moment, staring into the fireplace and

rocking Ron back and forth slowly. ¡°Well, if you trust Harry to
make the right decision about what his heart wants, then I think
what you have to do is talk to Malfoy before you talk to Harry.
You¡- we know Harry. We know that he¡¯s true to what he feels.
We don¡¯t know Malfoy the way we know Harry. I think¡- before
you make a decision on how to act about this, if they really aren¡¯t
breaking off the engagement, you have to talk to Malfoy.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco almost ignored Medusa when she informed him that there
was someone to see him on the other side of the portrait. He was
almost finished with the last of the work he needed to do to catch
up in his classes. But he put down his quill and walked over to the
portrait-door anyway.
Ronald Weasley was the one who had been waiting.

¡°Harry¡¯s not here right now.¡± Draco moved to close the portrait
but Ron stopped him.

¡°I know. He¡¯s with Hermione. I want to talk to you.¡±

Draco¡¯s lip curled. ¡°And you assume that I want to talk to you.
You are mistaken.¡±

Ron visibly held back whatever retort wanted to come out of his
mouth. ¡°I need to talk to you about Harry.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry frowned slightly. Something was strange with Draco. He
wasn¡¯t in danger but still¡-the bond was acting up.
¡°I have to go Hermione.¡±

The girl looked startled. ¡°Why?¡±

Harry smiled sheepishly. ¡°I forgot my Potions book. I¡¯ll be right

back.¡±

As Harry escaped into the hallway, Hermione looked over at the

books he¡¯d brought with him.

¡°But your Potions book is right there¡-¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Talk quickly Weasel, before you try my patience.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have any patience, Malfoy,¡± Ron quipped before he
could stop himself, ¡°But I want to know what your intentions are
towards Harry.¡±

An eyebrow rose in a mocking query. ¡°And what gives you the

right to discuss that with me?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t need a right. I¡¯m his friend. And I¡¯m not yours. So
while I trust his decisions, I question your motives.¡±
¡°You¡¯re afraid I¡¯ll hurt him. Your fears are not unfounded, but I
cannot hurt him any more than I can hurt myself.¡±

¡°I know what being a Veriae entails, Malfoy, and that doesn¡¯t
make me feel any better about this.¡±

¡°Are you waiting for a declaration of undying love from me?

Because if you are you¡¯ll get one. But if I were to say such things,
I would say them in Harry presence and Harry¡¯s alone.¡±

To Draco¡¯s surprise, a smile spread across Ron¡¯s face. ¡°But

I¡¯ll hear it at your wedding anyway, so what difference does it
make¡±

Draco¡¯s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ¡°What are you asking?¡±

¡°I¡¯m asking if when you kiss Harry, do you feel anything besides
your own narcissistic feelings for yourself?¡±

¡°Get out of my sight, Weasley,¡± Draco snarled. ¡°Do you think I

would kiss him if I didn¡¯t?¡±

And Draco slammed the portrait closed, ignoring Medusa¡¯s

protests.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Machination

Harry almost ran into Ron as he turned a corner.

¡°Ron? Why are you down here?¡±

¡°I had to talk to Malfoy.¡±

¡°What?¡±
¡°Listen, Harry, I¡¯m sorry about what I said earlier.¡±

Harry blinked. What?

¡°I¡¯m not saying I won¡¯t have some problems with you and
Malfoy. And I can¡¯t promise to suddenly like him or anything.
But I¡¯m not going to stop you from living your life¡- and if that
means letting you marry Malfoy, then I¡¯ll let you do it.¡±

Harry was shocked. ¡°That¡¯s¡- thanks Ron.¡±

Ron grinned sheepishly. ¡°No problem, Harry.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco was calmer when he emerged, dripping, from his shower¡-
but not much calmer. If he was surprised to see Harry waiting for
him when he entered the bedroom, he didn¡¯t show it.
¡°What are you grinning at?¡±

¡°You talked to Ron.¡±

¡°If that¡¯s what you call talking, Harry, then I wonder what you
call arguing or throwing insults at each other.¡±

Harry just shrugged and leaned back against the headboard of the
bed. ¡°He said not to expect him to suddenly be friends with you
but he¡¯s ok with our engagement.¡±

Draco rolled his eyes as he sat on the foot of the bed to finally
finish the work he¡¯d been planning to do before the Weasel had
shown up. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you not to expect us ever to be friends, but
hopefully you understand that already.¡±
¡°Did I ever ask you to be friends?¡± Harry grinned lopsidedly.
¡°That would be asking for a miracle. I might as well ask
Voldemort to go kill himself for me while I¡¯m at it.¡±

Draco couldn¡¯t help the smirk. ¡°I always thought spontaneous

combustion would be a good way for him to die.¡±

Harry laughed at the idea as Draco began to sketch his arithmancy

problem. ¡°Hermione had an idea about how to get back at Rita
Skeeter for that article before.¡±

¡°Really? Do tell.¡± Draco frowned absently as he began to take

the rudimentary equation and expand it to fit the problem.

¡°She and some others are going to write articles about us. Detailed
ones, with details that only they can get because they¡¯re our
peers. Then they¡¯re going to sell them to different publications
with the agreement that for continued information on us none of
Rita Skeeter¡¯s articles can be published by those publications.¡±

¡°Sounds good¡- wait, what?¡± Draco looked up from his

calculations.

¡°You agreed to it. Too late to back out now.¡± Harry grinned.

Draco sighed. ¡°Whatever. As long as I get to see these articles

before they¡¯re published.¡± And he went back to his calculations.

Harry peered over his shoulder. ¡°That looks like a lot of numbers
and gibberish to me.¡±

¡°That¡¯s exactly what it is, Harry, and that¡¯s why the answer¡¯s
not coming out the way I want it to.¡± And Draco reached for
another sheet of parchment to start the problem all over again.
¡°They need a date, though.¡±

¡°A date for what?¡±

¡°Our marriage ceremony.¡±

¡°Oh that.¡±

¡°Oh that? That¡¯s all you say?¡±

¡°Sorry, theta¡¯s avoiding me right now and that¡¯s the calculation

I need for the influencer on the future. (1) Then I take that and
multiply it by beta and I get the answer.¡±

¡°Didn¡¯t you just do that?¡±

¡°No, I divided by gamma.¡±

¡°You lost me¡- anyway, the date?¡±

¡°You pick one, I don¡¯t care. Just make it after the school year is
done.¡±

Harry grinned wryly at Draco¡¯s concentrated scribbling. ¡°I have

a feeling you¡¯ll want to change that answer later. I¡¯ll ask again
when you¡¯re not working on something.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°I speak the truth, my Lord. Severus gave his blessing for their
engagement. He said so!¡±
¡°You lie, Narcissa. Severus would not betray me.¡±

¡°My Lord, I heard him with my own ears. He said-¡°

¡°I do not care what you heard, Narcissa. I tell you that Severus
would never betray me. You will leave my presence now.¡±

¡°But my Lord-¡°

¡°Crucio¡±

As the woman writhed on the floor, Voldemort shook his head

sadly. ¡°One would think you would know to listen to me by now,
Narcissa.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry jolted awake from peaceful slumber, not sure of why he was
waking so suddenly. The boy beside him shifted and pulled him
closer against his chest, one wing draping over the two of them, the
new feathers covering them and the other feathers that had been
shed earlier that night. Harry frowned in the darkness, thinking. He
only ever woke up violently like that when he had one of those
dreams of Voldemort hurting someone, but because of his bond
with Draco he could not see or feel those dreams anymore.

¡°Harry, why are you awake?¡± Draco mumbled against the back
of his head.

¡°I think Voldemort was torturing someone tonight.¡±

¡°So? Not your problem. Sleep.¡±

¡°But I¡¯m wondering who it was.¡±

¡°The only way you¡¯d know that is to experience the dream.¡±

Draco yawned. He¡¯d been pulled from his own sleep by the bond.
Harry must have been worried. ¡°And that won¡¯t happen, so why
worry about it?¡±
¡°But what if it¡¯s-¡°

¡°Harry, you¡¯d rather dream of Voldemort than me? I¡¯m hurt.¡±

Draco smirked sleepily.

¡°I don¡¯t dream of you, you self-centered git. Just of your

wings.¡±

¡°My wings are part of me, Harry. Admit it, you dream of me.¡±

¡°I¡¯m not saying anything.¡±

¡°Good, so I can go back to sleep now.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape felt the Dark Mark burn and hurried to retrieve his Death
Eater robes and mask before heading out of the boundaries of
Hogwarts to apparate to the side of ¡°his Lord¡±.
¡°Severusss. Narcissa has spouting accusations towards you.¡±

Snape took in the woman standing, looking more than a little

shaken, off to the side of the room. She¡¯d been put under Crucio.
He could see the symptoms. ¡°What accusations my Lord?¡±

¡°She says you are no longer loyal to me, Severus. She speaks of
young Malfoy¡¯s engagement to Potter. What do know about this,
Severus? Did you allow this?¡±

Snape felt Voldemort probing subtly at his mind and he

instinctively closed off all memories except for the one moment
when Draco asked him for permission to request engagement the
second time, the time when Potter¡¯s name had not been
mentioned. ¡°He did not tell me who he was going to propose to,
my Lord. Had I known I would not have sanctioned it.¡± He drew
up the emotions he remembered from long ago, during the years
when he had truly believed in Voldemort¡¯s cause and pushed
them towards the surface of his mind.

Voldemort smiled. ¡°I should not have doubted you, Severus. You
may go, and extend my regards to your godson. Make sure he
understands the consequences of his actions.¡±

¡°I will, my Lord.¡±

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Division

Hermione worriedly scanned the Great Hall one more time for the
seemingly only missing students for breakfast that morning. Next
to her Ron was not nearly as worried, chatting with Seamus and
Dean about some Quidditch related topic.

¡°Harry and Malfoy still aren¡¯t here!¡± Hermione hissed in his

ear.

¡°Relax Hermione,¡± Ron grinned. ¡°They¡¯re probably just

sleeping in.¡±

¡°But the articles!¡±

The grin dropped off Ron¡¯s face. ¡°What? That¡¯s today!¡±

Hermione nodded.

The redhead groaned and turned back to his eggs as if to look for
solace by doing so. ¡°Well, at least they¡¯re putting out a united
front then.¡±

¡°What?¡±
¡°They¡¯re both skipping the publicity.¡±

Hermione rolled her eyes. ¡°That won¡¯t help them! It will just
make it look worse!¡±

As owls began to swoop through the rafters of the hall Ron smiled
wryly. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it now,
Hermione.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry sighed and nestled his face deeper into his pillow. When that
pillow moaned at the action Harry didn¡¯t think twice about it,
already drifting back into dreams. But when Draco suddenly bolted
upright, throwing Harry completely off of where he had been
draped over his torso, Harry protested.
¡°Shut it Harry, we¡¯ve missed breakfast!¡±

¡°Wha¡¯r you talking¡-¡± Harry trailed off into a yawn. Maybe

sleeping on the cold floor wouldn¡¯t be so bad¡-

¡°Get UP Harry!¡±

Harry was pulled off the floor and pushed towards his trunk with a
shove.

¡°We have five minutes before classes start!¡±

¡°Classes?¡±

¡°Divination for you, Harry. You¡¯ll have to run.¡±

Draco appeared next to Harry, fully dressed in his school uniform
¨C how did he manage to do that so fast anyway! ¨C and groaned at
Harry¡¯s state of undress.

¡°You can¡¯t go to class in your nightshirt, Potter! Move it!¡±

It was perhaps the use of his last name that finally jolted Harry out
of his sleepy stupor. ¡°Fine, Draco, I¡¯m going! Look, just go to
class. Trelawney won¡¯t miss me if I¡¯m not there for the first few
minutes.¡±

The blond hovered for a moment, as if making sure Harry did

indeed begin to get ready for class, before leaving at a run.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry entered the incense-laden room as quietly as he could, but
he¡¯d forgotten that one of the floorboards near the door squeaked.
¡°Ah! Harry my dear!¡± Harry jumped as Trelawney seemed to
materialize beside him. ¡°It is so good to see you did not take the
shortcut through the fourth floor corridor! Had you done so I
foresaw that you would have met your utter demise.¡± She fixed
him with a dreamy smile that reminded him strangely of the look
Luna normally wore. ¡°Your inner eye must be expanding for you
to have begun to realize the workings of fate so well!¡±

Harry nodded mutely, trying to ignore the sniggers coming from

one corner of the room that were undeniably Ron¡¯s.

¡°Take your seat dear, your classmates will fill you in on what they
are working on.¡±

¡°Harry sit over here!¡±

Harry looked over to see Padma waving him over toward where
she and almost the entirety of the female population of the
Divination class were sitting. There was one empty chair. Harry
looked over at Ron with a pleading gesture but his friend could
only shrug sympathetically as Trelawney shooed him over to the
girls.

Harry sat and it was as if he had been catapulted into a practice

room for dueling spells. Only the spells weren¡¯t spells, but a
barrage of whispered questions.

¡°Harry! Why didn¡¯t you tell me you were like that? We could
have gone shopping!¡±

¡°Harry! What did Draco do when he proposed to you?¡±

¡°Was it romantic Harry?¡±

¡°Did anything happen, Harry?¡±

¡°Can I help with the wedding Harry?¡±

¡°Am I invited to the wedding Harry?¡±

¡°Can I be in the wedding Harry?¡±

Harry sent another pleading look at Ron who was barely holding in
his laughter. ¡°Um, you¡¯ll have to talk to Draco about the
particulars. He¡¯s doing the organizing of the wedding,¡± Harry
mumbled as softly as he could.

There was a shriek of delight and Harry wondered how unnatural

girls must be in order to actually reach that range of sound.

¡°That¡¯s so romantic!¡±
¡°Wanting it to be a surprise!¡±

Harry groaned inwardly. I wonder what Trelawney would say if I

told her I would in fact not be killed by Voldemort but by being
smothered with questions¡- maybe I should tell her that all the
whispering is clouding my budding inner eye¡-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry attempted to catch up to Ron when the class ended, but to no

avail. The girls practically dragged him from the room, their voices
resuming their usual volume. Harry was overwhelmed by
questions on all sides and by the pure noise of it all as they half-
walked, half-dragged him through the hallways of Hogwarts.
Words melded together as he couldn¡¯t pick out which girl was
asking which question anymore.

And then his knight in shining armor appeared. Except his knight
wasn¡¯t exactly in armor, but in standard black Hogwarts robes
with a Slytherin badge emblazoned upon them.

¡°Excuse me girls, but Harry seems a bit flustered. Mind if I cut

in?¡±

An arm wrapped around Harry¡¯s waist and steered him away

from the gaggle of girls who cooed and awed as Harry was lead
away from them.

¡°How do they make those noises without going deaf?¡± Harry

wondered as they turned a corner and Draco let go of him.
¡°That is a mystery that I have often wondered about. I believe it is
not something the male gender is supposed to solve,¡± Draco
drawled.

Harry shook his head. His ears were still ringing. ¡°Well, I guess it
could have been worse.¡±

¡°Oh believe me, Harry, go down to the Slytherin part of the

school and it¡¯ll get worse.¡±

¡°What happened?¡±

¡°Nothing yet. They¡¯re divided in opinion if you ask me.¡± Draco

ticked each opinion off on a finger as he spoke. ¡°One part is just
confused and unsure if the whole thing is real or not. One part has
decided that, if I hadn¡¯t been already, I am now the epitome of
betrayal. And the third part just doesn¡¯t care, and is waiting to see
what becomes of the whole thing first.¡±

¡°That¡¯s nice of them,¡± Harry muttered.

¡°The Gryffindorks appear the same way though,¡± Draco smirked.

¡°But I think you have another category to add: those that think
it¡¯s the best idea ever and the cutest thing in the universe.¡± Harry
groaned as Draco changed his voice to mimic the girls they¡¯d just
left as best he could.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If dinner was any indication of the temperament of Hogwarts
students, Harry was exceedingly glad that he¡¯d skipped lunch. He
barely had a chance to eat.
¡°What were you thinking Harry?¡±

¡°It¡¯s Malfoy Harry!¡±

¡°Someone quick! Check for a Dark spell! He can¡¯t be acting of
his own mind.¡±

¡°But it¡¯s so adorable!¡±

¡°Are you crazy! It¡¯s horrible! You¡¯re not actually going through
with it, right Harry?¡±

¡°Harry? You¡¯re not really getting married, are you?¡±

And it was about at this moment that they saw his ring. Again, the
reactions were varied, but forceful. Harry¡¯s arm was dragged
towards everyone that could reach so that they could get a better
look at it and discern that it was, in fact, an engagement ring.

Over on the Slytherin side Harry could see that Draco was faring
only slightly better. The Slytherin students seemed to be quieter
with their inquisitive statements, but more vicious.

There was a sudden clatter and smash of food and cutlery falling to
the floor, as well as the soft whimpering of someone who¡¯d been
hit before Snape¡¯s voice roared out:

¡°Mr. Zabini, you will not act in such a manner towards your
fellow students!¡±

Harry peered over Ron¡¯s head to see Blaise standing over a

seventh year Slytherin, his fist still curled from the punch that
broke the student¡¯s jaw. Draco, sitting next to where Blaise was
standing, looked nonplussed about the entire situation, but his eyes
showed a slight irritation towards the student sprawled on the
floor.
¡°He¡¯s not going to get in trouble for that,¡± Ron muttered. ¡°You
can tell Snape¡¯s just making a show of it. He¡¯s not really angry
at all.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry collapsed, books and all, onto the bed, completely
exhausted.
¡°Going to leave me any room, Harry?¡±

Harry¡¯s reply was something between a ¡°mufgh¡± and a

¡°gfruf¡± before he lifted his head partway off the mattress. ¡°Not
at all. Wake me for exams.¡±

¡°I doubt even you could sleep for almost three months.¡±

A muffled, ¡°I can try,¡± was his answer.

Draco rolled his eyes, shifting Harry¡¯s books off the bed and onto
the floor where they landed in a heap. Then he shifted Harry¡¯s
legs from where they had been dangling off the bed to a more
restful position. Harry murmured his thanks.

¡°Stay awake a bit longer, Harry,¡± Draco said as he pulled out a

roll of parchment, ink, quill, wax, and the stamp with the Malfoy
crest carved on it.

Harry half rolled himself onto his side so he could peer at what
Draco was writing. ¡°Who are you writing to?¡±

¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, Harry. You¡¯ll have to tell me.¡±

¡°What?¡±
¡°I¡¯m paying your price, Harry. You have to select a next of kin
for me to send it to though.¡±

Harry blushed red at the word ¡°price¡± and buried his head in a
pillow.

Draco pulled it out from under him. ¡°You must know who is
closest to you in family status, Harry.¡±

Harry was silent for a moment. Then he mumbled something into

the sheets so all that Draco heard was: ¡°-mus.¡±

¡°What?¡±

¡°Remus. Remus Lupin.¡±

¡°The werewolf?¡± Draco asked incredulously.

Harry nodded. Family-wise, Remus was his closest wizarding kin.

He doubted Draco would want to send anything to the Dursleys,
much less money from the Malfoy family vault.

Draco was still staring at him. ¡°How exactly does that work?¡±

¡°He and my father were friends in school,¡± Harry replied,

fighting off a yawn. And now that his godfather was gone, he was
the last link Harry had to his real parents.

Draco nodded thoughtfully. ¡°I think that qualifies then.¡±

¡°Unless you¡¯d rather send it to my muggle relatives.¡± Harry

couldn¡¯t resist.

Draco grimaced. ¡°No.¡±

¡°Ok then. Remus it is.¡±

Draco continued writing. The silence stretched for a few minutes,

broken only by the sound of Draco¡¯s quill scratching the
parchment.

¡°Draco?¡±

¡°Hm?¡±

¡°How much are you sending him?¡±

Draco grinned devilishly, ripping off a large scrap of parchment

and scribbling a figure on it. ¡°Well the normal price for one
marrying into the Malfoy family is this.¡± He dropped the
parchment next to Harry.

Harry gaped. ¡°What?¡± Had he really counted those zeros right?

¡°You¡¯re kidding!¡±

¡°Of course,¡± Draco drawled thoughtfully. ¡°Considering that

you¡¯re The-Boy-Who-Lived and all, decorum would state that I
double it.¡±

¡°Double it?¡± Harry was instantly awake, trying to calculate how

large a figure that was. He couldn¡¯t. ¡°That¡¯s crazy! How many
vaults are you going to have to empty for that?¡±

Draco frowned. ¡°I think it¡¯ll take about a sixteenth of one of the
minor vaults. Yeah, that¡¯s about right. Maybe one seventeenth,
but that¡¯s not taking into account the interest that has added up
since the last time I checked the value.¡±

Harry stared at him, mouth agape. ¡°Draco. With that much

money, Remus could live like a king for the rest of his life.¡±
Draco grinned. ¡°Are you implying that you won¡¯t? You¡¯re
going to be a Malfoy, Harry.¡± He leaned forward to whisper,
¡°We live better than kings,¡± before capturing Harry¡¯s mouth in
a brief kiss.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Preparations

The teapot whistled, breaking Remus Lupin out of his train of

thought. Without setting down the newspaper clipping he was
reading, he stood and walked the short length of the kitchen to the
stove, took the kettle off the small flame and set it on the counter
absently.

His eyes turned back to the headline of the article and the stated
author below. Hermione Granger. Returning to the table with a cup
of tea, Lupin set the article next to two others. Hermione¡¯s article
had appeared the day before in the Prophet. An article by Ronald
Weasley had appeared in the Quibbler. And one, sent to him by
Mrs. Weasley, authored by Ginny Weasley had appeared in Witch
Weekly. All three articles were on the same topic: Harry Potter¡¯s
engagement to Draco Malfoy. Lupin had to smile lightly at the
skill behind the three writers. They had obviously collaborated and
split all the facts evenly between the three articles so that each one
would present new details.

But it was the topic that was puzzling Lupin. The last he knew,
Draco Malfoy and Harry were not on the best of terms to put
things lightly. And he doubted that Hermione, Ron, and Ginny
were writing falsities about Harry. Of course, one had to wonder
why the three were writing about Harry at all. But then he
remembered Albus had mentioned some rather strange articles had
appeared about Harry in the Prophet a while ago. Maybe this was
to make sure that if things had to be printed they weren¡¯t
detrimental to Harry.
There was a scratching at the window which caused Lupin to look
up from the articles. Two owls were seated there, waiting to be let
inside. One he recognized as Hedwig, the other he did not know. It
was a proud-looking eagle owl, whose feathers were so dark they
were almost black. Lupin crossed to the window and opened it,
letting the two owls fly in.

The eagle owl dropped its letter on the table and left, but Hedwig
remained on the table, watching Lupin.

Lupin took Harry¡¯s letter from her, opened it, and began to read.

Dear Professor Lupin,

As you¡¯ve probably already seen what Hermione, Ron, or Ginny
have written about me, I won¡¯t bother to repeat what they¡¯ve
said because it¡¯s true. I¡¯m engaged to Draco Malfoy and the
wedding is set for a few weeks after school. But in the tradition of
wizarding weddings, since there¡¯s no way that Draco would agree
to a muggle one, I have to be accompanied by my closest male
guardian. I was wondering if you wouldn¡¯t mind being my
familial guardian now that Sirius is dead, but as Draco has already
sent his own letter to you I¡¯m a little late in asking but I figured I
should ask anyway. Please send your reply back with Hedwig.
Harry

Lupin reached across the table to where his own quills and
parchment sat and scrawled:

Dear Harry,
I would be honored to be your familial guardian.
Remus Lupin

As Hedwig soared off towards Hogwarts, Lupin reached for the

letter that was, as Harry stated, bearing the Malfoy crest.
Dear Professor Lupin,
In following with tradition, I have instructed Gringotts to place the
amount listed below in your vault in honor of the upcoming
marriage between myself and Harry Potter. I look forward to
seeing you at the wedding.
Draco Lucius Malfoy

Lupin looked at the number listed after the scripted name and
blinked. That was a lot of Galleons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the weeks passed, more teachers started to begin their lectures
with ¡°because exams are coming up in a few weeks¡± or ¡°in
order to prepare you for your exams¡±. The amount of homework
that Harry received was almost doubled as ¡°review¡± assignments
were added to the regular homework. And Harry still had to deal
with the comments about the wedding coming from different
classmates.
Of course, they continued to remind him that it was he who had to
buy both his and Draco¡¯s robes for the wedding. The coloring of
the robes was standard. Both he and Draco would have to wear the
colors that represented their families, with a white band on the
sleeve to signify that the robes were for a wedding. But Harry
hadn¡¯t known there were so many styles of these ¡°official
robes¡± until a rather large book of designs had been forced on him
by a group of bashful Ravenclaw girls.

¡°How am I supposed to choose?¡± Harry grumbled to Ron. ¡°I

can¡¯t even see the difference between these two!¡±

Hermione peered over his shoulder and pointed to the collar of the
robes. ¡°This set has lace and the other doesn¡¯t.¡±
¡°And that makes a difference?¡± Harry moaned.

¡°Just pick one and be done with it, mate,¡± Ron advised,
continuing to scribble on his Transfiguration essay.

¡°He is not going to ¡®just pick one¡¯, Ronald Weasley.¡±

Hermione¡¯s tone took on the quality of Mrs. Weasley¡¯s as she
berated Ron. She turned to Harry. ¡°Narrow it down to the few that
you like and then try to pick only one.¡±

Harry sighed and turned back to the book.

¡°Oh, and Harry?¡± Harry looked up. ¡°When you and Malfoy
have figured out the invitation list, we want to publish it.¡±

¡°You want to what!¡±

¡°Publish the guest list. Well, invitation list, but anyone who gets
an invitation will be going.¡±

¡°But why?¡±

¡°So that we can kick out all reporters during the actual
ceremony,¡± Ron explained. ¡°If we give them all the details of
who will be there and so on before the ceremony we can keep out
all reporters for the real thing because there won¡¯t be anything
left to say.¡±

¡°I guess,¡± Harry¡¯s head was back in the book. ¡°But we

haven¡¯t even thought of who to invite yet.¡±

¡°You haven¡¯t, but I bet Malfoy has,¡± Ron muttered.

¡°Hey, what do you think of this one?¡± Harry asked, turning the
book so his friends could see the design and completely ignoring
Ron¡¯s muttering.

The style was for long, three layered robes. The innermost layer
was a white dress shirt and black dress trousers. The second layer
was a full length inner robe in the familial colors, with long
tapered sleeves. The third layer was a simple, yet elegant, black
outer robe that looked rather cape-like.

¡°I think they¡¯d look lovely, Harry,¡± Hermione said, looking

from the design to Harry as if she was picturing him wearing it.

¡°The outer layer looks kinda like what Malfoy¡¯s dad used to
wear,¡± Ron observed.

¡°Yeah, I thought Draco might like that.¡±

¡°What are you going to do about your familial colors?¡±

Hermione asked.

¡°I wrote to Lupin about that, asking what my family¡¯s colors

were. And apparently the Potter bloodline was too recent a
bloodline to have a tradition as old as family colors. But since
Sirius was my godfather, he suggested I use the Black family
colors. So I¡¯ll be wearing green and bronze to my wedding.¡±

¡°What¡¯s Malfoy wearing?¡±

¡°Purple and gold.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Harry returned from sending Hedwig off to Madam Malkin
with the design, colors, and measurements for his and Draco¡¯s
wedding robes he found Draco sprawled out on the sofa in their
rooms looking down at a scroll of parchment. As Harry entered, he
added another line at the bottom of the scroll and looked up.
¡°What¡¯cha up to?¡± Harry asked, dropping his books on the
armchair next to the sofa.

¡°Guest list. Do you think we should include all of our teachers or

just the heads of our houses?¡±

Harry blinked, getting a sudden image of Trelawney at his

wedding and hoping fervently that her ¡°inner eye¡± would tell her
that the day of his wedding was not a good day for her to leave her
tower. ¡°All of them I guess.¡±

Draco nodded and went back to scribbling names.

¡°Who else do you have on there?¡± Harry asked, leaning over

Draco¡¯s shoulder to see.

¡°Just the Slytherins I want to invite. I didn¡¯t get to your people

yet.¡±

Harry grinned. ¡°I guess I should write those then.¡±

Draco handed Harry the scroll. ¡°Yes you should.¡±

As Harry read through those Draco had written, he noted that the
only Slytherins that were on the parchment were those who had
backed Draco when it was revealed that he was a Veriae and when
it was revealed that he was engaged to Harry. Harry noted that
Snape was not on the list.

¡°What about Snape?¡±

¡°He¡¯s my closest familial relative. He doesn¡¯t get an invitation,
so to speak, since he¡¯s part of the ceremony.¡±

Harry frowned in the middle of writing down Ron¡¯s name.

¡°Speaking of relatives, who are you going to dance with?¡±

¡°I haven¡¯t decided what to do about that yet.¡±

¡°I won¡¯t allow Death Eaters at my wedding.¡±

Draco snorted. ¡°My godfather is a Death Eater.¡±

¡°You know what I mean. Ones that actually want me dead.¡±

Draco laughed. ¡°I¡¯m certain there are some days when my

godfather really does want you dead, Harry.¡±

¡°On those days the feeling is mutual and you¡¯re avoiding the
question,¡± Harry replied as he finished adding Mr. and Mrs.
Weasley to the list after Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny. He
thought for a moment about whether to invite Percy or not and then
decided against it. The ties between Percy and the rest of the
Weasley family were strained at best now, and he didn¡¯t want to
aggravate that.

¡°On my father¡¯s side of the family, I have no other relatives

since he was an only child and his father was an only child before
him. I won¡¯t ask Narcissa, and I won¡¯t ask Belatrix.¡±

¡°What about Tonks?¡±

¡°Who?¡±

¡°Nymphadora Tonks.¡±
Draco frowned thoughtfully. ¡°I think I remember my mother
spoke of her once, something about being a disgrace to the
family.¡±

¡°Her mothermarried a muggle.¡±

¡°That would explain it. But if she¡¯s related to my mother she¡¯s

the only other female relative I¡¯ve got.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll write to her about it if you want,¡± Harry offered, adding the
names of those in the DA to the list before handing it back to
Draco.

¡°Sure.¡± Draco scanned down the list of names as Harry made a

mental note to ask Tonks to look as Malfoyish as she could to the
wedding.

¡°You put a House Elf on here?¡± Draco looked up incredulously

from where he read Dobby¡¯s name.

Harry shrugged.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry realized that the invitations had been sent out when Dobby
appeared on top of his Potions assignments, clutching the letter and
howling.
¡°Mister Harry Potter sir! Dobby is so honored to be asked to your
wedding like a wizard sir!¡±

¡°Um... it¡¯s no problem Dobby,¡± Harry tried to soothe the House

Elf. The door to his and Draco¡¯s bedroom opened and Draco
leaned against the doorway in obvious amusement as the House Elf
continued to tell Harry how wonderful he was to send a House Elf
an invitation. Harry looked up at him with a pleading expression,
but Draco shook his head.

¡°You got yourself into it, you get yourself out,¡± he spoke under
Dobby¡¯s hysterical words.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry debated about when to tell Draco about the Dursleys. He
realized that he would have to spend enough time with them to
renew the protection that they unwittingly gave him for his last
summer with them. He was under no illusion that he would be let
back into their house once he graduated Hogwarts, not that he
would have gone back anyway, but for one more summer he
needed that protection. Because of his Veriae bond to Draco, he
would either be pulled to where Draco was at night or Draco would
be pulled to where he was. That meant Draco would have to spend
those same few weeks at the Dursleys with him.
Of course, neither the Dursleys nor Draco would like that. Draco
would hate them immediately because the Dursleys were as
muggle as you can get, and then because of how they would treat
him for being a magical creature, which was certainly worse than
being a wizard For their part, the Dursleys would hate Draco
because he was a magical creature pure and simple. But then, if
they found out that Draco was his fianc¨¦¡- well, that was definitely
not normal to the Dursleys.

¡°You¡¯re too quiet. You must be thinking,¡± Draco commented

from where he was finishing up his Ancient Runes essay before
bed.

¡°I¡¯m thinking about the summer.¡±

¡°What about the summer?¡±

¡°Well, you know how I lived with muggles? I¡¯ll have to go back
there for the few weeks before the wedding.¡±

¡°No.¡±

Harry sighed. ¡°Yes I do. There¡¯s some protection ward that they
give me because we¡¯re related by blood, or that¡¯s what
Dumbledore said. So I have to go back there each summer to
renew it, at least until I finish Hogwarts.¡±

¡°You do realize that I will have to be there for those few weeks as
well.¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Harry replied miserably.

¡°I won¡¯t like it.¡±

¡°They won¡¯t either.¡±

It wasn¡¯t until after Draco had already fallen asleep that Harry
realized Draco had said ¡°I won¡¯t like it¡± and not ¡°I won¡¯t
go¡±.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron seemed to wilt in his chair as McGonagall neared the
Gryffindor table with a stack of parchments, while opposite him
Hermione seemed to glow with excitement.
Harry muttered ¡°thanks¡± when she handed him his exam
schedule. Ron was refusing to look at his or act like it existed.
Hermione was poring over hers, like a First Year on the first day of
school. Harry looked down at his with trepidation as he piled more
breakfast on his plate.
The week of exams was broken into three exam blocks per day.
The morning block, the afternoon block, and the astronomy block
since those exams had to be done at night. Monday, Harry had
Potions in the morning session and Divination in the afternoon
session. Tuesday was Care of Magical Creatures in the morning,
and Transfiguration in the afternoon. Wednesday Harry only had
his Astronomy exam in the night block. Thursday was History of
Magic in the morning and Herbology in the afternoon. And Friday
was Charms in the morning and Defense Against the Dark Arts in
the afternoon block.

Ron looked over Harry¡¯s shoulder to see what his first exam was
and nodded sagely. ¡°Potions first. It¡¯s the end of the world as
you know it.¡± He raised his pumpkin juice in salute. ¡°Good luck
with that.¡±

Chapter Forty: School Year¡¯s End

Harry stared glumly at his breakfast, only half-listening to

Hermione reminding him of last minute facts and tips.

¡°Hermione, I¡¯m going to fail anyway with Snape grading me.¡±

Ron shot his friend a sympathetic look. ¡°Look, Hermione, Snape

will grade him the same whether he¡¯s right or wrong.¡±

Harry ignored the ensuing argument as Hermione couldn¡¯t fathom

a teacher grading someone wrong when they answered the
question correctly, and Ron interjecting that this was Snape so of
course he would do something like that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry stretched his fingers as he looked down at the final question.
Ensnared in a protective no-cheating bubble, he was only vaguely
aware of his classmates. Some were still scribbling furiously on the
written portion of the exam. Only Draco and Hermione had started
the practical. Considering that those two would most likely finish
way before the time limit, he figured he would have enough time
to finish.
Define both positive and negative concentration and state how
each would alter the effects of an invisibility potion.

Harry bit his lip absently as he began to write. A negative

concentration would cause an alteration on the potion¡¯s effects,
most often the opposite. But there was something different about
the effect of having a negative concentration in an invisibility
potion. Obviously it didn¡¯t to the reverse because that would just
make you visible again¡- it was something about disappearing
and¡- not wearing off! That was it!

The effects of a negative concentration for any of the ingredients

of an invisibility potion causes the user to lose whatever the potion
is applied to instead of merely turning it invisible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The afternoon exam for Monday had Harry and Ron heading for
Divination while Draco and Hermione took their Arithmancy
exam.
Draco nearly groaned when he saw the prediction he had to make.
This was another ¡®locate the derivative of theta¡¯ problem. And
that would dictate his life span. Of course it would come out to
have conditions, so it wouldn¡¯t be a worthwhile calculation
anyway. And as he scanned the parchment, yes, that was the
second question: Is this an exact calculation? Why or why not?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry sat staring at Ron¡¯s palm in silence as Professor Trelawney
watched them. Ron had already written his prediction for Harry,
which sat on the table, face down, next to them. Harry frowned
slightly and began to write.
Ron¡¯s life-line is very short. He will die exactly four weeks from
now at my wedding. From the line over his thumb, I can see that he
will get very drunk and endanger the life of one with a very strong
Inner Eye (shown by the intersection of lines across the fingertips)
and kill himself in grief, as shown by the perpendicular line
running towards his palm from his life-line.

Harry sat back satisfied, having completely disregarded anything

factual about palm reading he might have known. And if he was
lucky, Professor Trelawney would read it and think the one with
the very strong Inner Eye was hers. That way she wouldn¡¯t come
to the wedding.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Care of Magical Creatures exam took place in a classroom on
the second floor. Harry took a seat behind Draco and turned over
the parchment on the desk which activated the no-cheating bubble
Hagrid¡¯s untidy scrawl covered the first few lines of the paper.
Describe any magical creature you wish in a completely developed
essay.

Harry blinked and began thinking of which magical creature he

should write about. His eyes fell on the outline of Draco in front of
him and he smiled as he began to write.

Veriae, or Atra Veritas, are perhaps one of the most misunderstood

magical creatures¡-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McGonagall¡¯s Transfiguration exam was set up much like
Snape¡¯s Potions exam. The first half was a writing section and the
second half was a practical. Draco finished writing the essay (What
is the difference between transfiguring inanimate objects to
animate ones and transfiguring animate objects to inanimate ones?)
and turned the parchment over. It disappeared and a small box with
a note on top appeared in its place. A small garden snake was in
the box, stated the note, and the practical half of the exam was to
turn the snake into a goblet. Draco flicked open the latch on the
box and let the snake crawl out on his desk. Feeling for the magical
currents in the room, he latched onto one hovering over the
window, an earthen current. He gently guided it into the snake¡¯s
aura, blending the two and then began to mold the earth current
into that of something with gold and gems.
Harry was having a more difficult time of the practical than Draco.

¡°But I don¡¯t want to become a goblet!¡± his snake hissed

pitifully. ¡°They¡¯re no fun! If I have to become something, make
me something that goes places and sees things!¡±

Harry frowned. The snake continued to break his concentration

with its whining about how it did not want to become a goblet.
And he was sure he couldn¡¯t ask McGonagall if he could
transform it into something else simply because the snake liked it
better!

Frowning he closed his eyes and tried to block out the snake¡¯s
speech as he thought of all the aspects of a water goblet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry napped most of Wednesday in preparation for his
Astronomy exam. Draco had taken it the night before, so the two
of them just stayed in bed until lunch when Draco dragged them
out to get something to eat. Then Draco had to take his Ancient
Runes exam as Harry attempted to get more sleep. But sleep was
not forthcoming, and Harry found himself envisioning many
disastrous meetings between the Dursleys and Draco. The
Astronomy exam left Harry exhausted for his History of Magic
exam as he tried to write down everything he remembered about
the Wizard-Troll wars of 1000 B.C.E . Finishing the exam he was
very happy to simply fall asleep on his desk. Ron woke him shortly
after the exam was finished and they headed for Herbology.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry¡¯s Herbology exam took place in Greenhouse Four, which
had been divided into sections by fogged glass walls, so that one
couldn¡¯t see what was going on inside them. Professor Sprout
told them that there was a different plant inside each section of the
Greenhouse and that they each had to pick one. Once inside they
had to identify the plant by writing its name on the glass and had to
harvest whatever useful items they could from the plant.
Harry randomly picked a section and walked in to see a smallish,
bushy plant with long leaves that looked like hair. He looked at it
for a minute before tracing Gorgon Tree on the fog-covered glass
walls. The name was deceptive, since the plant was actually a
bush, and Harry was almost positive that¡¯s what the plant was.
Now all he had to do was get to the small leaves under the hair-like
ones, and he would be done.

Harry emerged with a handful of small leaves and dropped them in

the small bin next to the glass wall. As he headed towards the exit,
he paused by Draco¡¯s section. The blond was pouring a think
golden liquid into the container outside the glass.

¡°What happened?¡± Harry asked, taking in Draco¡¯s appearance.

Draco shoved one strand of matted, bloody hair behind his ear and
glared at the glass. ¡°Bloodbush. I hope we don¡¯t get marked off
for killing the plant because after I drained it of nectar I burned the
thing.¡±

Harry grinned as Draco stomped off towards their rooms and, most
likely, their shower.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry left his Charms exam with a curl of dread beginning to work
its way into his stomach. All that was left was Defense Against the
Dark Arts, yet another Snape exam. And remembering the Potions
exam he didn¡¯t dare think what Snape would come up with.

The exam was given in an empty circular room with no windows.

As the last student filed in, Snape charmed the door to be
transparent.

¡°Your exam will be a duel between all of you. It will be timed.

For every minute you remain in the duel you will be granted a
point. When all except for one person has fallen, that person¡¯s
score, however many points it is, will be the perfect score and all
others will be graded accordingly. You may begin as soon as the
door closes.¡± Snape stepped outside the room and slammed the
door shut.

Harry didn¡¯t know who shot the first spell, but suddenly the air
was thick with them and Harry felt a faint pulse of pain settle in his
stomach.Shouts filled the room as he ducked under three curses
and fired a jinx of his own. Someone yelled out as they fell to the
floor and there was a bright light as the Gryffindor disappeared to
reappear outside the room.

Two Slytherins fell next, then another Gryffindor. Harry swerved

out of the way of Ron¡¯s Expelliarmus and fired back a jelly-legs
curse, as Ron fought to regain control of his legs which were
buckling underneath him, a Slytherin fired Petrificus Totalus on
him and Ron dropped to the floor. Harry then jinxed the Slytherin,
who was also removed from the room.

Harry became vaguely aware that Draco hadn¡¯t fired anything

yet, nor had his wings sprouted. He turned to find where the blond
was. He was on the other side of the room, and anyone who got
near him seemed to be shot back with a stream of water.

Harry turned back to his own situation when he felt a curse hit his
back and his upper body began to twitch. Ignoring the itching
feeling that spread across his skin he turned around to hex the other
person. His beam of purple light hit Hermione and she fell to the
ground. Harry blinked in surprise as she smiled and disappeared to
the other side of the door.

There were only three students left. Harry, Draco, and Blaise.

Draco launched himself at Blaise, and Harry could only watch as

Blaise did nothing to stop him. They fell to the floor as Draco¡¯s
wings ripped out of his cloak. Ignoring spells altogether, Draco
began to hit Blaise, and Blaise let him. Harry blinked as he
recognized the look on Blaise¡¯s face and he backed away from
the two. Blaise was treating this like penance, letting Draco finally
take out any anger from what had happened at Malfoy Manner on
him.

Blaise¡¯s whole face was bloody when Draco stopped and the spell
inside the room triggered so that Blaise appeared on the other side
of the door. Draco looked up towards Harry but was stopped by the
curse Harry had waiting. As Draco¡¯s form fell to the floor, the
door opened, and the exam was over.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After dinner Draco headed for the Infirmary. Blaise was still there,
and would spend the night; he¡¯d broken Blaise¡¯s jaw and nose,
and given him a concussion.
The room was silent as he entered. Blaise looked up from his bed
and gave him a sad smile as he sat down on the chair next to him.

¡°I¡¯m¡- sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have-¡°

¡°Gotten carried away like that?¡± Blaise finished. ¡°Don¡¯t be.

You have nothing to apologize for.¡±

¡°I didn¡¯t get carried away. I wanted to hurt you.¡±

¡°Of course you did. You have ever since then.¡± Blaise didn¡¯t
have to clarify when ¡°then¡± was, they were both thinking about
the incident at the Manner. ¡°And I can¡¯t blame you for it. If I
hadn¡¯t gotten in your way, your father might still be alive.¡±

¡°But you didn¡¯t kill my father. And it¡¯s not your fault that he¡¯s
dead.¡±

¡°Maybe. We¡¯ll never know will we?¡±

Draco shrugged, his eyes staring at the floor.

¡°I know it¡¯s too late to say this. But I¡¯m really sorry, Draco. If I
could fix it-¡°

¡°Don¡¯t say it Blaise. I don¡¯t want to hear it. I know you¡¯re

sorry. I know you only did that because you had to appear loyal.
You did warn me not to let myself be seen. But I was. Under the
circumstances¡- not knowing what would happen¡- you did the
right thing.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not on his side Draco.¡± Blaise whispered. ¡°But I was too
weak to stand by that at the initiation.¡± He leaned back against the
pillows. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen my parents more proud¡-
or hated myself more at any other moment in my life.¡±

Draco nodded. The two were silent for a moment.

¡°Do you ¨C I mean¡- I, er, got your invitation.¡± Blaise stumbled

through his words. ¡°Do you really want me at your wedding?¡±

Draco nodded slowly.

¡°And Potter¡¯s okay with this?¡±

¡°Do you want him dead?¡±

¡°No.¡±

¡°Then he won¡¯t have a problem with it. You¡¯re not a good

enough Death Eater.¡±

Blaise smile wryly. ¡°I¡¯m a horrible Death Eater.¡±

¡°I¡¯m glad you are.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Great Hall was covered in red and gold in honor of Gryffindor
House as Harry, Ron and Hermione entered for the Leaving Feast.
As they passed the Slytherin table, Harry heard Draco drawling to
Pansy and Blaise that if he¡¯d been on the Quidditch team, then
Slytherin wouldn¡¯t have lost the Cup that year, and couldn¡¯t help
grinning.
As all of the students found their seats, Dumbledore stood and the
hall quieted.
¡°Yet another year has passed. And we¡¯re older and hopefully a
little wiser for it. Now for the House Cup. Hufflepuff finishes the
year with three hundred twenty points, Ravenclaw with three
hundred forty points, Slytherin with four hundred ten points, and
Gryffindor with four hundred and fifty points!¡± Cheers and
applause filled the hall. ¡°Yes, Congratulations Gryffindor! And
I¡¯ll not bother you with an old man¡¯s mumbling there¡¯s a feast
to be had!¡±

As food filled the tables, Harry looked over at the Slytherin table
and grinned. Draco raised his goblet in a mock salute and smirked
in reply.

¡°Oh stop staring at him and go sit with him!¡± Ron muttered in-
between mouthfuls.

¡°Yeah Harry, it¡¯s obvious you want to!¡± Dean added from
across the table.

¡°What?¡± Harry gaped. ¡°Sit over there?¡±

¡°You are his fianc¨¦,¡± Hermione added. ¡°There¡¯s no reason not

to.¡±

¡°Well if you don¡¯t want me here anymore¡-¡± Harry trailed off

with a grin as he stood and amidst loud denials and laughter made
his way over to the Slytherin table.

¡°Just come back for dessert!¡± Ron called after him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Got room for one more?¡± Harry murmured in Draco¡¯s ear.
¡°I don¡¯t know, Harry.¡± Draco looked up and down the table.
¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any empty spots left.¡±

¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to sit on your lap.¡± And Harry did so.

¡°Uncouth Gryffindor,¡± Draco drawled as Harry grabbed a

drumstick and added it to Draco¡¯s plate.

¡°Yup, and you¡¯ll get to spend the rest of your life with me,¡±
Harry reminded him.

¡°Oh joy,¡± Draco drawled, but his eyes were glittering in laughter.
Chapter Forty-One: "Home" for the Holidays

Draco and Harry parted ways at the train station, so Harry could
have time to tell the Dursleys that Draco would be staying with
them before Draco met them. Draco was going to arrive at Privet
Drive a few hours after Harry and his relatives.

Draco nodded to the House Elf who had brought the carriage,
disguised as a stretch limousine, to King¡¯s Cross. ¡°I trust the
horses know where to go?¡± he asked as he opened the door to the
carriage.

¡°Yes, Master Draco. They is taking you there.¡±

Draco nodded and sat back against the plush seats as the horses
made their way through the busy streets of London.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the horses stopped an hour later, Draco was outside a run
down shop on the outskirts of London. But he knew this was only
part of a facade to keep the muggles away. They wouldn¡¯t have
enough to pay for anything inside this shop anyway.
Inside, the shop became one of the most beautiful places Draco had
ever seen. This was Kutterman¡¯s, a specialty shop that sold
jewelry of a quality so perfect they were peerless. For generations,
the family who had owned the shop had created one of a kind
masterpieces for the Malfoy wedding rings. And Draco was not
one to break tradition.

¡°Ah, Mister Malfoy. It is good to see you. You look just like your
father.¡± The man behind the counter was old, with gray hair that
was slowly turning white, whose pleasant features had lit up with a
smile as Draco entered.

¡°Did you get my letter?¡±

¡°Yes, Mister Malfoy. The rings are finished, but we¡¯re still
putting the spell work on them. You can see them if you want.¡±

¡°I would like to.¡±

He followed the man into the back of the shop where the two rings
sat on a work table of ivory.

They did not match, because in order for the spell work to bind the
ring to its owner completely, the ring had to be unique, as its
owner was. Both rings were bands of diamond, with the date of the
wedding and the Malfoy crest, engraved in minute detail in
platinum on the inside of the band. And that is where the
similarities stopped. Draco¡¯s ring was centered with an obsidian
gem surrounded by amethysts and sapphires, all set in platinum
settings on the diamond band. Harry¡¯s ring was centered with an
emerald in between two rubies and four small opals, set also in
platinum settings.

When finished, they would be spelled to fit the owner perfectly, to

adjust as needed in order to slide on and off the ring finger of the
owner as wished. They would also be spelled with multiple
protection spells, which are what took the most time to set, as one
needed to spelled on top of the other.

¡°They will be ready on the day of your wedding as promised,¡±

the old man promised.

¡°That will be perfect,¡± Draco replied.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry endured a completely silent car ride back to Privet Drive.
His uncle was fuming, he could tell. He¡¯d explained that another
student from Hogwarts was going to be staying with him that
summer, and his uncle had gone completely silent. This was the
calm before the storm, he could just tell.
And he was right. The minute Vernon was inside his own home,
with Aunt Petunia and Dudley as his attentive audience, he
exploded in anger. He yelled about the nerve of some people who
took advantage of the goodness of others, and how he allowed one
freak in his house and that was enough. In the midst of this, Harry
noticed Dudley was looking at him strangely, or rather, looking at
his right hand.

¡°What¡¯s that on his finger?¡± Dudley asked abruptly and both of

his parents turned to look at Harry¡¯s hands.

¡°Why are you wearing-¡°

¡°I¡¯m engaged,¡± Harry said quietly.

Vernon was rapidly turning colors as he looked at the band of gold,

and he was about to speak when the doorbell rang.

¡°I¡¯ll get it,¡± Harry said quickly.

¡°No you will not, boy!¡± Vernon yelled, pushing Harry out of the
way as he headed for the door. Harry rubbed his shoulder where it
had hit the wall as he followed his uncle, aunt, and cousin to the
door.

A man in a three-piece muggle suit stood at the door with a slightly

hidden look of distain on his face.

¡°Is this the house of a Mister Harry Potter?¡± he asked.

Harry watched his aunt and uncle exchange looks before looking
back at him.

¡°No Harry Potter lives here,¡± Vernon stated gruffly.

The man raised an eyebrow, looked past the Dursleys to Harry and
then replied, ¡°I shall tell Lord Malfoy this the house.¡±

He turned and walked down the driveway to where a stretch

limousine was waiting on the curb. He opened the door and Harry
watched as Draco, dressed in full wizarding robes, stepped out and
made his way up to the house.

Harry couldn¡¯t help grinning as Draco appeared as if he was

looking down at his aunt and uncle even though they were taller
than he was. ¡°You are Mr. and Mrs. Dursley?¡± He drawled.

¡°Yes."

¡°Draco Malfoy. Your nephew¡¯s fianc¨¦.¡±

Draco swept past the Dursleys as if they weren¡¯t standing in the

doorway and looked around the foyer with disgust.
¡°You will leave at once!¡± Vernon had found his voice again. ¡°I
will not tolerate any of your kind in my house!¡±

Draco turned on his heel to face Harry¡¯s uncle. ¡°If you think for
one moment that I will derive any pleasure from living in this
hovel, you are gravely mistaken. And I do not care what you will
or will not tolerate. In fact, it is you who should care what I will or
will not tolerate.¡±

Vernon sputtered, realizing that they were attracting the attention

of the neighbors and slammed the door closed.

¡°If you are still a student at that school, then you cannot do magic-
¡°

¡°I cannot do magic?¡± Draco echoed, as if in disbelief.

¡°And I will not tolerate any of your strangeness in my house!¡±

Harry wondered if his uncle was referring to Draco being a wizard

or Draco being his fianc¨¦, and then decided that his uncle was
probably referring to both.

¡°And here is where our viewpoints differ,¡± Draco drawled. ¡°You

seem to be acting under the idea that I am a wizard, a student at
Hogwarts.¡± Draco emphasized the name deliberately as the
Dursleys flinched. ¡°I am no wizard. In fact-¡° There was the sound
of fabric ripping and Draco¡¯s wings extended outward from his
back in an upward cascade of sharp black feathers. ¡°-I am not
even human. And I assure you¡-¡± Draco¡¯s head tilted in
Dudley¡¯s direction. Something shifted in the air and Dudley
found himself suddenly thrown into the wall by an invisible force.
¡°I can very easily do magic.¡±
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Dursleys didn¡¯t adjust to Draco and Draco refused to adjust
to their standards. After complaining that Harry¡¯s bed was the
worst piece of furniture he¡¯d ever seen, Draco summoned a small
army of House Elves to completely redo Harry¡¯s bedroom, the
bathroom, the kitchen, and any other common rooms that ¡°this
poor excuse for a house¡± might have. This then started a shouting
match between Uncle Vernon and Draco about where the original
furniture had gone.
Vernon said that Draco had stolen it, and Draco replied that he
wouldn¡¯t touch the furniture in this house if his life depended
upon it, and that the muggle would find his furniture back in their
places once Draco left.

Draco had also turned part of the living room into a potions
laboratory which Harry¡¯s Aunt Petunia couldn¡¯t stand. The
smell was dreadful, she said and insisted that Draco get rid of it
immediately. To which Draco calmly replied, ¡°Make me, you
pathetic excuse for a muggle.¡±

Dudley learned very quickly to avoid Draco at all costs. Once he

made the mistake of calling Draco a ¡°fag¡± and, once Harry
explained what it meant and that it was an insult, Draco had sealed
his mouth shut and locked Dudley in his bedroom for three days.

Yes, when Draco and Harry finally left, the Dursleys were very
happy to be rid of them and did not bother to hide it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry woke to an empty bed the day of the wedding, and a House
Elf nervously stammering, ¡°Master Harry sir.. the-ere¡¯s guests
here, sir.¡±
¡°Who are they¡- Lilty?¡± Harry muttered as he slid out of the
cocoon of bed sheets he found himself in.
¡°A Mr. Ronald Weasley and a Miss Hermione Granger, Master
Harry sir.¡±

Harry nodded. ¡°Let them in and tell them I¡¯ll be down in a

minute.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione was appalled when Harry appeared in pajamas. ¡°Harry!
It¡¯s nearly noon!¡±
¡°I know, Hermione. I slept in.¡± Harry thanked the House Elf that
brought him breakfast. ¡°Do you want anything?¡±

¡°No,¡± Hermione answered for both Ron and herself. ¡°You have
to get dressed, Harry! Guests will start to arrive in three hours!¡±

¡°Lupin and Snape should be here any minute,¡± Ron added,

swiping a muffin off the tray that had been brought to Harry.

¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯m going!¡± Harry shook his head helplessly as he

headed back to Draco and his bedroom to change.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione and Ron looked around the house while they waited for
their friend.
¡°The House Elves have outdone themselves,¡± Ron grudgingly
admitted. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look half bad.¡±

¡°It looks gorgeous, Ron,¡± Hermione corrected him. And indeed it

did.

The entire first floor and stairway had been decorated in white and
platinum. The marble and wooden floors shone with equal sparkle,
as if just cleaned. Garlands of fresh white roses hung from the
moldings and around the banisters. The flowers in the garden that
lead to the double doors of the Manor were in perfect condition
and in full bloom. White petals had been sprinkled on the walkway
and across the close lawns, and a bouquet of white orchids sat
primly on every windowsill.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Your husband has very good taste, Mr. Malfoy.¡± Kutterman
nodded at Draco¡¯s robes. ¡°Here are the rings. I wish you many
happy years, Mr. Malfoy.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape and Lupin arrived at around the same time, with Draco
following shortly after. Snape and Draco then disappeared into
what had been Lucius¡¯s study and was now Draco¡¯s, as Lupin,
Hermione, and Ron, stayed with Harry.
Snape looked at the rings for a moment before handing them back
to Draco. ¡°They¡¯re lovely. They¡¯ll do both of you justice. And
the spell work is immaculate.¡±

¡°Good.¡±

¡°Are you nervous?¡±

¡°Why should I be?¡±

¡°You have the Weasley twins coming to your ceremony. They¡¯ll

probably try to jinx the doors shut.¡±

Draco blanched. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me things like that.¡±

¡°You¡¯re serious then.¡±

¡°Of course I¡¯m serious. Did you doubt me?¡±

Snape studied his godson, decked out in wedding robes. ¡°No. But
it is one thing to know it and another to believe it. And thinking
that your godson is in love with Harry Potter is very different from
truly knowing the same fact.¡±

Draco didn¡¯t reply, but looked down at the two rings again. After
a moment he murmured. ¡°I know. I¡¯m still surprised myself.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As sundown neared, guests began to swarm the Manor and Harry
made his way down the long path leading to the Manor, with Lupin
by his side.
¡°Are you nervous?¡± Lupin asked.

¡°A little.¡±

Lupin¡¯s smile was a knowing one. ¡°Try not to be. This is your
day after all. Yours and Draco¡¯s. It¡¯s a day to be remembered so
that you can tell it to future generations. And it wouldn¡¯t be a
very interesting story if you only remember being nervous.¡±

Harry smiled absently at the remark before asking, ¡°Do you think
they would be okay with this? My parents? Sirius?¡±

¡°I think that it would have taken some getting used to, especially
for James and Sirius. Lilly would have loved the idea right away,
but it might have taken a week or so for James and Sirius to see
what she would have immediately. But I do think that at this
moment, were James or Sirius in my place, they would both be
very proud of and happy for you.¡±
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry¡¯s closest friends surrounded him as Lupin led him up the

walkway. The path was lined with classmates and friends who all
smiled at him and joined the group as they passed. Draco¡¯s close
friends stood near him as he watched Harry walk towards him.

When Harry had walked to where Draco stood in front of the large
double doors to the Manor, Lupin placed Harry¡¯s hand in
Draco¡¯s outstretched one and stood back next to Snape as the two
faced each other.

In a clear voice, Draco spoke, ¡°Where you are Gaia, I am Gaius.¡±

¡°Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia,¡± Harry replied.

Snape stepped forward with the wedding rings, and Draco placed
Harry¡¯s ring on his finger with a reverence Harry had never seen
from him before. Harry then picked up Draco¡¯s ring from the box
Snape held and slid it on to Draco¡¯s finger.

¡°Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaius,¡± Draco spoke in little more than a

whisper, and Harry responded in kind, ¡°Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia.¡±

Snape and Lupin stepped out of the way as Draco and Harry turned
to the doors. Together they pushed them open. In one swift
movement, Draco picked up Harry in his arms and walked across
the threshold of the Manor.
Someone cheered and then others joined in, cheering and clapping
as Draco made his way slowly through the foyer of the Manor,
carrying Harry to the ballroom.

Everyone followed them into the ballroom which was lit in the
early evening by huge chandeliers, covered in white flower
garlands.

Small instruments scattered amidst the candles of the chandeliers

began to play as Draco set Harry down in the center of the
ballroom. Their music flowed down and around the two as they
began to dance. Harry found it was much easier to dance while
being led by someone who in turn knew how to dance. Draco and
he seemed to flow around the ballroom as if dancing on the music
itself. Harry forgot those who were watching, carried off by the
music and Draco.

Instead of winding down to finish the piece, the music increased in

volume and speed, rising in a crescendo that brought the two
dancers with them, till finally in the last, triumphant note, they
stopped.

Lupin then took Harry¡¯s hand and they danced. ¡°You did very
well, Harry,¡± he murmured as they fell into step with the soft
music. ¡°I am very proud of you, as I¡¯m sure are your parents and
Sirius.¡±

Tonks had outdone herself, Harry thought, as she took Draco¡¯s

hand for their dance. She looked almost as Malfoyish as he did, in
cascading blond ringlets and bright blue eyes.

Food was served by the House Elves as the dancing continued.

Harry was sure that Fred or George Weasley had spiked the punch
at some point. Draco shared his sentiment, after having tasted it.
¡°I really don¡¯t want to know what they put in there. It tastes like
a mixture of Firewhisky and worse.¡±

¡°But if that¡¯s the worst prank they pull, then we¡¯re lucky,¡±
Harry grinned, leaning against Draco.

They didn¡¯t notice Ron and Fred Weasley making their way to
the middle of the ballroom, nor did they notice Blaise break away
from his dance with Pansy to follow them. But when Fred Weasley
pointed his wand at Ron¡¯s throat and whispered ¡°Sonorus¡±, and
Ron began to speak, everyone noticed.

¡°I¡¯m told...¡± he said, and everyone stopped dancing or eating to

look at him. ¡°...there¡¯s this new tradition starting in wizard
marriages, where the best friend of the groom or¡- other groom in
this case, called the ¡®Best Man¡¯-¡° he looked at Hermione
quickly for confirmation before continuing, ¡°-has to get up in
front of all the guests and family of the couple and spout
embarrassing stories about his friend until his friend is completely
embarrassed. It¡¯s kinda hard to say more things about Harry that
you already know, since all of the bad stuff has already been
published, and if I were to relate all the details, we¡¯d be here all
year, not that I¡¯m complaining of course because the food¡¯s
great. My compliments to the House Elves.¡± Ron paused and then
continued. ¡°We¡¯ve been through a lot, Harry and I, and some of
the less known, less dignified moments of our¡- adventures include
falling onto a Devils Snare and not knowing what it was, following
a trail of spiders into the Forbidden Forest without trying to plot
exactly where we were going or how we¡¯d get out, being the only
ones sitting through an entire ball without ever dancing, and I will
always remember fondly Harry riding around, franticly chasing
after a flying key until I die. And thus having completely shattered
Harry¡¯s pride, I will step out of the way for my counterpart here,
to do the same for his husband.¡±
Draco stiffened as Blaise stepped up to where Ron had stood and
Harry heard him mutter, ¡°If he brings up the potions incident¡-¡±

¡°You know it¡¯s hard to think of undignified Draco Malfoy

moments. Partly I think, because being undignified is Draco
Malfoy¡¯s worst fear, right up there with having a bad hair day.
But there is one incident which sticks out in my mind which I am
going to tell you at great personal sacrifice because after I tell you
this, there is no way Draco will ever let me be a godfather to
whatever children he and his husband are going to adopt to carry
on the family bloodline. So Pansy dear, corrupting them will be all
up to you.¡± He saluted Pansy as titters went around the room. ¡°So
now, this story, which has become in my mind, and maybe in
Draco¡¯s too, the Potions Incident. You see, Draco¡¯s always had
this fascination for Potions ever since he found out what poisons
were. Of course, his father said he couldn¡¯t brew those until he
knew what he was doing. He had to start off small and work up to
it. Of course, for Draco, this was unacceptable. And so, on one of
those rare visits of mine when his father was out of the Manor, he
decided to disobey. And we didn¡¯t decide to make a poison,
because that couldn¡¯t be tested too easily without killing
something and having to get rid of a body, but we decided on a
mood changing potion. And to this day I will never know what
Draco did wrong, since I wasn¡¯t allowed to touch the thing while
he was making it, but he did something. And instead of creating a
mood altering potion, he created a mood alternating potion. He
tested it on himself. Those few hours were the funniest hours I
have ever lived through. One minute, he¡¯s laughing, the next,
he¡¯s crying, the next he¡¯s dancing around singing off-key, and
then suddenly he¡¯s picking a fight with a wall because it got in his
way. But the best thing during that hour was Draco attempting to
jump out of the window of his room because he was convinced that
he could fly. So now that I¡¯ve signed my death wish we can all
continue eating and drinking and dancing!¡±
And ignoring the glare from Draco and the slightly mortified looks
from Harry, everyone went back to doing just that.

Epilogue: Happily Every After

Two years later:

Blaise looked up as the other man slid into his seat across the table
from him. ¡°Long time no see, Draco.¡±

Draco shot him a smirk as he ran his hand through long platinum
strands, even longer than his father had worn his hair, Blaise noted.
¡°Becoming a Master in potion making isn¡¯t as easy as I make it
sound in my letters.¡±

Blaise laughed, thinking of how Draco ranted in his letters about

the demands of the Masters he was working with. ¡°Have they
stopped bringing up the fact that you don¡¯t sleep on campus?¡±

¡°No. They keep telling me that I should be around at all times.¡±

The Veriae shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten used to ignoring them. Their
glares have nothing on my godfather¡¯s.¡±

¡°Draco, I don¡¯t think anyone can glare like your godfather.

Although,¡± Blaise¡¯s eyes laughed merrily as he spoke, ¡°If I
remember correctly, you could come close.¡±

¡°I find myself improving. They¡¯re going to start having me

lecture next semester in Durmstrang.¡±

¡°Not Hogwarts?¡±

¡°No. Believe me, I tried. I think they don¡¯t want my godfather to

grade me. They think he¡¯d favor me or something like that.¡±
Blaise snorted into his wine at the thought of Snape favoring
anyone enough to up their grade. Nope, it wasn¡¯t compatible with
the reality.

¡°So how¡¯s your better half?¡± Blaise asked.

¡°Well right now we¡¯re arguing-¡±

¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± Blaise¡¯s tone was dry and sarcastic.

¡°-about children.¡±

Blaise choked on the wine he was drinking and decided that, even
though it was really good wine, he should not drink it during this
conversation.

¡°I can honestly say that is the last thing I thought you were going
to say.¡±

Draco smirked. ¡°I enjoy surprising you.¡±

¡°So what exactly are you arguing about?¡±

¡°How they will come into existence.¡±

¡°Oh, you mean whether you¡¯re going to use a potion or a

spell?¡±

¡°Yes.¡±

¡°Let me guess, you want the potion, he wants the spell?¡±

¡°Exactly.¡±
Blaise grinned lopsidedly at him. ¡°Well, I think whoever has to
carry the baby should decide.¡±

¡°Blaise, that is disgusting.¡±

Blaise couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the look on his friend¡¯s face.
¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t resist. Well, if memory serves me correctly,
the Hereditary Potion and Spell are both administered at the same
time of birth, right?¡±

¡°Correct. As long as the baby hasn¡¯t gone through a naming

ceremony, either one can be used to change his or her heritage to
another family¡¯s."

¡°Well, why don¡¯t you just adopt twins and use both?¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco shrugged off his outer cloak and dropped it into the House
Elf¡¯s waiting hands as he entered the Manor. The Masters had
kept him late again. He sighed. Harry didn¡¯t like it when he
wasn¡¯t there to help tuck the children in. He would have to
apologize for the ill-manners of his teachers, yet again.
¡°Master Draco, Master Harry and the little Master and Mistress
are waiting for you in the little Mistress¡¯s room. They is having
Master Harry tell them stories while they wait for you.¡±

Draco thanked the House Elf and strolled towards the room he and
Harry had fashioned for the younger twin. She was ¡°Harry¡¯s
twin¡±, and had been made a Malfoy by Harry casting the
Hereditary Spell on her, while the older twin was ¡°his twin¡±,
having been made part of the family by the Hereditary Potion that
Draco himself had brewed.
The door was open and he paused in the hallway as he realized that
Harry was nearing the end of the story. As always, he couldn¡¯t
speak more than a sentence without one of them asking a question.

¡°And Draconis protected Harold with his wings as Harold said the
spell to kill the Big-Bad-Wizard.¡±

¡°Did he have wings like Father does, Daddy?¡±

¡°Yes, exactly like Father does.¡±

¡°What happened after the Big-Bad-Wizard was killed, Daddy?¡±

¡°Well, Harold and Draconis decided to have a family, of course.¡±

Draco moved to stand in the doorway. Harry was sitting in the

middle of the bed with one child on either side, listening intently to
him. Harry looked up at Draco as he entered.

¡°And did they all live happily ever after, Daddy?¡±

¡°They did.¡± Draco answered, stepping up to the bed to hug and

kiss his children good-night. ¡°They all lived happily ever after.¡±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seven Years Later:

Headmaster Severus Snape surveyed the hall as Hermione
Weasley, Minerva¡¯s replacement as Transfiguration teacher lead
the new First Years into the Great Hall for the Sorting. His eyes
swept down to one end of the table where Ron was watching his
son in the gaggle of First Years. He allowed himself a small smile.
From this year on, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about young
children exploding their cauldrons in his dungeons anymore.
Casting a glance at the wizard sitting next to him, he wondered
how the children would react to their new Potions teacher. He¡¯d
seen Draco teach as part of his application to be on the Hogwarts
staff and his godson had impressed even him on how strict a
teacher he could be.

Next to Draco sat his husband, and the only Defense Against the
Dark Arts teacher to remain at Hogwarts for more than one year
(ten, to be exact, and still counting): Harry Malfoy. Though, Snape
thought with a hidden grimace, he would always be ¡°Potter¡± in
his eyes. Harry was watching eagerly for his own two children to
be sorted, his hand reaching for Draco¡¯s under the table.

Snape turned his attention back towards the group of students and
picked out two very blond children in the crowd. One, a girl, was
standing in the front. The other, a boy, was more towards the back
hidden behind the other students. But the hair gave them away as
the two Malfoy twins that Draco had written of constantly in his
letters. Snape looked forward to seeing how they¡¯d grown. He¡¯d
not seen them since their naming ceremonies.

¡°Malfoy, Lily.¡± Hermione¡¯s voice rang out and the front most
blond head moved out of the crowd. Lily Malfoy smiled brightly at
her two fathers before she sat down on the chair. She had wavy
golden hair, much more gold than platinum; Harry¡¯s eyes,
Harry¡¯s smile, Draco¡¯s nose and poise. Everyone waited as the
hat was placed upon her head.

¡°GRYFFINDOR!¡± it yelled, and Harry smirked at Draco before

joining in the applause for his daughter.

¡°One more left, Harry,¡± Draco reminded him over the chatter and
Snape fought the urge to groan. Would the rivalry between those
two never stop? For one minute?
Draco edged forward in his seat as Hermione¡¯s eyes fell to the
next name on the list.

¡°Malfoy, Lucius.¡±

Snape¡¯s jaw dropped as a carbon copy of the Lucius he had gone

to school with made his way through the small huddle of first
years, and nodded respectfully at his fathers before sitting down.
The elder twin waited patiently as the hat was lowered towards his
head. No sooner had it touched the long platinum hairs that were
brushed back into a horsetail did it shout:

¡°SLYTHERIN!¡±

Draco beamed at his son as Lucius sat proudly at the Slytherin

table, very much in the same seat that Draco himself had occupied
during his years at Hogwarts. The twins shot each other
challenging looks across the hall and Snape fought the urge to
groan, thinking of all the trouble two Malfoys - who were part
Potter - would cause, now that they were in different houses.

¡°Well, I think that we needn¡¯t have feared, Harry,¡± Draco spoke

as the Sorting continued. ¡°Our inter-house rivalry legacy will be
continued.¡±

Nothing else was said until ¡°Weasley, Mordred¡± was sorted.

¡°Mordred?¡± Snape asked the blond next to him as the redheaded

boy sat down on the stool and his mother dropped the hat on his
head.

¡°It was apparently Mrs. Weasley¡¯s idea,¡± was all the Malfoy
patriarch would explain. ¡°And Mr. Weasley didn¡¯t have the
determination to tell her no, not after twelve hours of labor.¡±
Snape nodded, wincing slightly, and thanked whatever force was
guiding the universe that he would never have to worry about
children of his own.

¡°SLYTHERIN!¡±

At the other end of the staff table, the flying instructor, Ronald
Weasley, began to choke on the very air he was breathing.
Hermione, however, smiled proudly at her son and watched him
swagger over to the table over which hung green and silver
banners. The redhead plopped down next to Lucius and, from the
conspiring grins between the two, Harry and Draco both knew that
something was being planned about this turn of events.

Draco couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°You should be happy, Weasley,¡± he

smirked down the table at the sputtering Ron. ¡°My boy will make
sure yours grows up right.¡±

Ron shot a glare at Draco but didn¡¯t say anything, pointedly

returning his attention to the Sorting Ceremony.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that night Harry remarked on how quiet it was in the Manor,
now that Lucius and Lily were staying in the Hogwarts dorms.
Draco¡¯s smile was predatory as he whispered in Harry¡¯s ear, ¡°I
bet I could make you scream loudly enough that it echoes.¡±

And he would have proven that was there not the sound of a
nervous House Elf trying to get their attention. ¡°Masters, there is a
guest demanding to see you in the fire.¡±

Draco sighed and got up, pulling Harry off the couch with him.
The two walked into the foyer where a very irate Severus Snape
waited for them in the fireplace.
¡°Draco, I need you to floo to Hogwarts immediately. You are
needed as Head of Slytherin House.¡±

¡°Why?¡± Harry pouted.

¡°Because your son and his Weasley friend were just caught
sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library.¡±

Harry burst out laughing as Draco shrugged and went to grab some
floo powder. He had a feeling the two wouldn¡¯t be punished for
trying to sneak into the Restricted Section on their first night of
Hogwarts. No, Draco would chew them both out with a lecture to
rival and perhaps utterly destroy one of Snape¡¯s own; but it would
not be about breaking the rules¡- no, it would be about breaking the
rules and getting caught.

Finis Est.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------